Proverb for Today

My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments within you, that they may keep you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words. Listen to me now therefore, O children, and attend to the words of my mouth: do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not go astray in her paths; for she has cast down many wounded, and many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death. (Proverbs 7:1, 5, 24-27, MEV)

Devotional Thought

As you read Proverbs 7, the dangers of sexual immorality are illustrated through several metaphors: an ox going to the slaughter, a fool to the stocks, a dart striking through one’s liver, and a bird caught in a trap. All of these pictures pale in comparison to the very real damage the writer is warning against.

For today, I want us to see and ponder some very sad, startling statistics related to pornography. These are broken down by section and have been provided by Covenant Eyes. For more information on these statistics, visit the Covenant Eyes Pornography Stats page.

Public Perception of Pornography

• 90% of teens and 96% of young adults are either encouraging, accepting, or neutral when they talk about porn with their friends.
• Just 55% of adults 25 and older believe porn is wrong.
• Teens and young adults 13-24 believe not recycling is worse than viewing pornography.
• Only 43% of teens believe porn is bad for society, compared to 31% of young adults 18-24, 51% of Millennials, 44% Gen-Xers, and 59% of Boomers.

General Statistics

• 1 in 5 mobile searches are for pornography.
• 28,258 users are watching pornography every second.
• $3,075.64 is spent on porn every second on the Internet.

Pornography in Church

• 1 in 5 youth pastors and 1 in 7 senior pastors use porn on a regular basis and currently struggling. That’s more than 50,000 U.S. church leaders.
• 43% of senior pastors and youth pastors say they have struggled with pornography in the past.
• 64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women say they watch porn at least once a month.
• Only 7% of pastors report their church has a ministry program for those struggling with porn.

Teens and Pornography

• Nearly 27% of teens receive sexts.
• Around 15% are sending them.
• 57% of teens search out porn at least monthly.
• 51% of male students and 32% of female students first viewed porn before their teenage years.
• The first exposure to pornography among men is 12 years old, on average.
• 71% of teens hide online behavior from their parents.

Marriage and Pornography

• 68% of divorce cases involved one party meeting a new lover over the Internet.
• 56% involved one party having “an obsessive interest in pornographic websites.”
• 70% of wives of sex addicts could be diagnosed with PTSD.

Reflect and Respond

• • If you struggle with pornography, get help. Get accountability, install internet filters, and be honest about your struggle.
  • What safeguards do you need to put in place to avoid pornography?
  • How can you be a help to a friend or family member struggling with an addiction to pornography?