I can’t remember a time I was not in church. Church is just what our family did. I was a good kid with a long string of Sunday school perfect attendance pins on my lapel. On the outside everything looked great. I was polite and didn’t get in trouble at school.

As I entered adolescence, I kept the good kid image of faithful church attendance but under those attendance pins my heart was turning away from what I had learned in Sunday School. My eyes had noticed girls and my heart became consumed by lust. I realized that I was living a lie and that I could not continue in my sin.

Passing the offering plate one Sunday night in a small mountain church my heart began to pound and my hands began to tremble so hard I thought I would drop the offering plate. At that moment I knew that the solution to my problem was to confess my sin to God and ask for forgiveness. As soon as I could, I put the plate in its place and hit my knees at the altar.

I would like to tell you that lust was never again a problem. Although I had confessed my sin and accepted the forgiveness of Christ, I continued to struggle with this secret sin.

As I became an adult, I found pornography and began an addiction that would plague me for the next 25 years. Continuing to work at serving Christ, I was fairly successful through periods of life, but would find myself falling to the addiction again and again.

A little over 7 years ago, I confessed my continued sin to the Lord, asked His forgiveness and repented. In the months to follow, I learned that I needed to have godly men hold me accountable according to James 5:16.

Now all of life is better! Jennifer and I recently celebrated 32 years of marriage and we are more in love than ever before. I have freedom that I never had before. There will always be temptation but God has promised that he will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I am able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that I may be able to bear it.

Staying close to the Lord through study of His Word, prayer and accountability make the difference between the old life of defeat and a new life of victory in Christ!