Meet Luke, a Christian Celebrating Recovery from a Pornography Addiction

I am a grateful believer in Jesus Christ who struggles with lust and codependency, and I celebrate recovery from pornography. My name is Luke.

I am 24 years old. I’ve been blessed to grow up in a home where my two loving parents saw the great importance and necessity of my personal development in my relationship with Christ.  I’ve attended church all of my life and accepted Christ into my heart at a young age.

My relationship with my parents over the last 24 years has definitely had its ups and downs. They have always loved me for who I was in Christ. I know for a fact there have been times in my youth where the cute and loveable little Luke wasn’t so cute and lovable. When I was younger I had what my mom and dad called, the “silent pity-party.” This consisted of…well, silence. I would shut down and not talk and not listen and not obey, until I got my way or until something happened that would make poor little Luke feel better. I have been learning over the last decade of my life that I do a lot of things because I know it will just make me happy, feel good or because it’s just simply something I want to do. This attitude is eventually what led me into my struggles with pornography, inappropriate behaviors, and lust. I discovered these things on my own at a very young age. I remember discovering porn on my video game system. My parents did what they could to prevent me from getting on the internet on those kind of electronic devices, but my desperate desire to act out led to me getting around the barriers they would set. I can remember my parents walking in on me a few times as I was looking at some inappropriate images, and immediately feeling deep shame and guilt, but that didn’t stop me. I was too prideful and filled with too much shame to ask for help. As I got older, I knew that it was wrong and that I needed to stop my addiction before it got worse.  But, I continued to believe the lies that it would always be something I would struggle with, and that it would it only get easier to overcome when I got married. I believed these lies for about 15 years.

I was introduced to Celebrate Recovery by a dear friend and mentor. After attending my first Celebrate Recovery meeting about 4 years ago, and hearing and seeing all the life-change stories, I knew it was a community I wanted to get involved in. I too wanted to experience those same freedoms. God used Celebrate Recovery to teach me many great tools to help me work through my issues. I also have many new forever family members to walk this journey with me.

I have completed 2 step studies, and now I’m currently co-leading my third step study. The first step study I was in, was the first step study for college students at my university. That was definitely a group that I needed, especially going through college.

When I worked through Principles 4 and 5, which is writing out my moral inventory and then sharing it with someone I trust, I learned what a valuable process this can be.  When I wrote my issues down and shared out loud, I couldn’t get around it any longer. I had to follow through. I couldn’t just think or dream about having freedom over them any longer, I had to believe that freedom was possible. I had to stop daydreaming, and do something about it. I had to move forward with healthy things. I also gained accountability because another person knew about my issues, and would ask me how I was doing.

I recently got my 2-year chip for being sober from porn. I give every ounce of glory to my Higher Power, Jesus Christ. It is still a daily fight, but the Lord has continued to show his faithfulness as I lean in to him, and he continues to pick me up when I fall. Life has its ups and downs, its hurts, hang-ups, and habits. Through it all, I know I must continue to rely on the Lord’s strength every day.