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Welcome to episode #257! ️ Pure Victory Podcast: The Unseen Battle: Winning the Spiritual War Against Porn

The fight against porn isn't just about willpower or habit loops; it’s a battle for your soul. If you’re treating the physical symptoms but ignoring the spiritual roots, you’re only fighting half the war.

Key Takeaways

• The Three-Layer Battle: Recovery must address the Physiological (brain wiring/dopamine), the Emotional (trauma/shame), and the Spiritual (authority/agreement).
• The Power of Agreement: The enemy cannot "own" a believer, but he gains a foothold when we agree with lies like "I’ll never change" or "I need this to cope."
• Legal Rights & Footholds: Unforgiveness, secret vows, and past trauma can create spiritual "legal ground" for the enemy to harass and torment you.
• Authority Over Willpower: We don't fight for victory; we fight from the victory Jesus already won. Freedom starts by submitting to God so we can effectively resist the devil.

Scripture Highlight

Action Items: Reclaiming Your Ground

1. Audit Your Agreements: Identify one lie you’ve been believing (e.g., "I'm too far gone") and explicitly renounce it out loud in Jesus' name.
2. The Forgiveness Inventory: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if there is anyone you are holding a debt against. Choose to forgive to close that spiritual door.
3. Break the Secrecy: Darkness thrives in the dark. Tell one trusted person or mentor about your struggle this week to bring it into the light.

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Resources

FamilyLife Canada: Porn Recovery Resources

FamilyLife Canada: Resources and events to strengthen your marriage

Online marriage resources (FamilyLife Canada)

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Pure Freedom Community for men 18+
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Pure Freedom Journey for men and women

Podcast Host

BRADEN HAFNER

Braden is the Regional Director in Alberta for FamilyLife Canada. He and his wife Kristen live in Edmonton, Alberta. He knows all too well the destruction that porn use and addiction can have, and now wants to see people experience freedom away from porn. Along with that

Listen to today's Laugh Again with Phil Callaway, "Making Life Rich." Enjoy!

Can tradition hold equal authority with Scripture? Dr. John Neufeld examines what Jesus taught about tradition in Mark 7:1-13, where the Pharisees criticized His disciples for not following ceremonial hand washing traditions. Jesus responded by quoting Isaiah: "They teach as doctrines the commandments of men." When tradition conflicts with Scripture—as when the Pharisees used "Corban" to avoid honouring their parents—tradition always loses. Jesus Himself practiced sola scriptura.

The Case for Sola Scriptura: Is the Bible alone our ultimate authority? In this 5-part series, Dr. John Neufeld defends sola scriptura—that Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice. He addresses challenges from Roman Catholicism, Protestant liberalism, and the New Apostolic Reformation. Dr. John demonstrates that the 66 books of Scripture form a closed canon—God's complete and final word.

This episode of Practice Makes Parent will give you and your family a fresh take on the Lenten season. Don't just fast chocolate or screen time this year. Decrease life's unnecessary details and increase your relationship with the Lord so you can live in awe of Christ's resurrection! Danny and Rebecca speak with Dr. Alicia Britt Chole about 40 Days of Decrease, a guide for those hungering for a fresh Lenten/Easter experience. We also take a listener question about the gentile parenting movement.

40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast

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Family feuds, wayward kids, parent-child clashes, husband-wife disagreements, and other in-house pressures have a way of breaking our spirits and stealing our joy. And no one is immune who compromises with God’s standard—not even a king such as David. In this study we witness the monarch’s misery as the sword of consequences falls on him and his family.

From the Series: Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Lives: Rediscovering Some Old Testament Characters

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Feel like your spouse is physically present but emotionally checked out—especially after long days, travel, or career demands? Matt and Sarah Hammitt (Sanctus Real) get brutally honest about emotional absence and the tension that builds when one partner carries the load alone. Matt and Sarah offer practical ideas to help true love survive conflict, defensiveness, and absence--for a love that goes the distance.

Show Notes and Resources

• Lead Me: Finding Courage to Fight for Your Marriage, Children, and Faith by Matt Hammitt
• Marriage After Dark: the podcast where a real couple answers the questions you’re too embarrassed to ask. Get it at FamilyLife.com/MarriageAfterDark

• Find resources from this podcast at shop.familylife.com.
• See resources from our past podcasts.
• Find more content and resources on the FamilyLife's app!
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There are some trials in life you just can’t find reasons for. They hit you hard and you’re left wondering. But it’s often during these times of testing that God deposits some of His best lessons into your life.

Scott Hamilton is an Olympic gold medal figure skater and former national television commentator. His compelling story begins with being adopted and overcoming physical illness as a child to compete in skating, followed by cancer and multiple brain tumors. Reaching the pinnacle of his sport couldn’t fill the hole in Scott’s heart. Not until he found his identity in Christ did he arrive at true peace and joy. He’ll share about his lifelong journey of overcoming as he inspires others with the Gospel.

As a longtime New York Giants football fan, it's hard for me to tell a story where a Dallas Cowboys player is the hero, but this one I couldn't resist. Charles Lowery tells the story of a visit by then Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman to visit this young patient's ward in a children's cancer hospital. T.J. was one of those patients, a young boy who was dying of cancer. After visiting with him, Troy promised that he would score a touchdown in that boy's honor. As he was leaving, T.J.'s mom took the quarterback aside and told him that the boy didn't have long to live. Well, the promise stood. The following week was the Cowboys' first preseason exhibition game, and they didn't even play Troy that week. But T.J., of course, was glued to that whole game hopefully.

The next week the Cowboys played in Mexico City, putting starters like Troy Aikman in for only the first quarter. The Cowboys had driven to their opponents' 20-yard line where Troy dropped back to launch a pass - only to tuck the football and, much to everyone's surprise, run the ball in for a touchdown - and then to be tackled in the end zone by these two monster defenders. Well, some Dallas sports writers were all over Aikman because he did what he's not supposed to do as a quarterback. He risked injury like that in what they called a meaningless game. They should have talked to T.J.'s mom. She said, "Troy knew it wasn't a meaningless game; not when he was playing for someone who was dying."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Every Day, Every Play Matters."

You know, it really is true. There is no such thing as a meaningless anything when you do it for someone who's dying, which in terms of God and eternity, many of the people all around us are doing. The Bible clearly says that anyone who "does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12) and that they are "without God and without hope in this world" (Ephesians 2:12). That includes anyone in your personal world who has not had their sins forgiven by faith in the Christ who died for them: coworkers, neighbors of yours, fellow students, people at the gym, at the club, teammates, family members.

But Jesus has placed you where you are, right next to those folks, so they could have a chance at Him, a chance at heaven. And He's depending on you to tell them - to play your position each day as if you were playing for someone who's dying. You are. The Biblical story of Esther is, in a way, the story of everyone who belongs to Christ. She is the Jewish girl who, by God's design, became the Queen of Persia with no one knowing she was a Jew. Then, through the treachery of an anti-Semitic aide to the king, a decree was issued that mandated the death of every one of her people.

For Esther to appeal to the king would mean the very real risk of her own life. But her godly cousin gives her this haunting challenge, "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" That's Esther 4:14, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. And she realizes she is in that position to save dying people, and she risks everything to rescue them.

Now, something very exciting, very enlarging happens to your life when you realize that what you do every day doesn't have to be "everyday stuff." It's relationships and opportunities to point someone where you are to life in Christ. So nothing you do is meaningless, not when you do it to help someone who's spiritually dying. And the life of a church or a ministry is suddenly electrified when the leaders and the members there decide to do what they do, not just to make themselves comfortable and blessed, but to rescue the dying people all around them in their community. It changes everything.

There's a lot at stake in whether you are a silent follower of Christ or one who breaks your