How to Handle Porn and Sexual Triggers in Everyday Life

How to Handle Porn and Sexual Triggers in Everyday Life

Let’s be real: you don’t have to search for sexualized content to run into it. It’s everywhere. A suggestive YouTube thumbnail. A social media ad. Someone at the gym or the beach wearing something revealing.

So how do you handle it? Deal with it. It’s gonna happen. But here’s the real question: Who are you in that moment?

You Are Not a Slave to Lust

Too many men approach this battle with fear—fear of beauty, fear of attraction, fear of being “set off.” But that’s not the mindset of a free man.

I am not afraid of beautiful women. Are you?

Because here’s the truth:

• Women are beautiful.

• God designed beauty.

• Attraction is not the same as lust.

What matters is what you do in that moment. Do you let your mind spiral? Do you dwell on it? Or do you choose to direct your energy toward something greater?

A man who is free does not use women for his pleasure. He is a man who has chosen to channel his sexual energy toward love, toward commitment, toward presence. He refuses to seek relief in fantasy because he is committed to becoming the kind of man who can handle reality.

Wonder as the Antidote to Lust

Lust is tunnel vision. It zooms in, isolates, and objectifies. It turns a person into a thing, a body into a tool, a moment into a craving. It’s small.

Wonder, on the other hand, is expansive. It allows you to see beauty without needing to possess it. It acknowledges that beauty exists everywhere—not just in the form of a woman’s body, but in the sky, the ocean, great art, music, human connection.

Instead of shrinking your world into a moment of temptation, lift your gaze and take in the full picture.

Living with Your Gaze Up

When you let lust take over, your gaze drops. Your vision narrows. Your desires get reduced to momentary pleasure instead of something eternal. But you are called to live with your gaze up.

That means:

• Keeping perspective – Beauty exists, but it’s not yours to take.

• Holding onto your values – You are a man of integrity, not a slave to impulse.

• Understanding the order of things – Your desires don’t control you; they serve a greater purpose.

The world is full of beauty, and that’s a good thing. But beauty is meant to inspire, not consume. It’s meant to point you toward something higher—not drag you down into base cravings.

So next time you encounter a sexualized image—on a screen, at the gym, wherever—you don’t have to panic. You don’t have to feel trapped. Just remember:

Pain is the path.
Women are beautiful.
And God is good.

Live with your gaze up.