ED (Erectile Dysfunction) is a sensitive subject. If it were not for the never-ending commercials for Viagra and similar products we would likely not even know how big a problem it has become.
ED has various causes. Sadly, compulsively using internet porn is one of them. In fact, ED as a result of internet porn use is becoming a serious public health issue especially among adolescents. Since ED of this type originates in the brain, Viagra apparently does nothing to help.
Marital ED
Although porn induced ED is a fairly new and pitiful condition, we should not overlook a similar, extremely common problem—one no one seems to be talking about. It occurs among those—men and women—who are unable to find sexual pleasure in their marriages.
Even while being intimate with their spouses, they rely on the wanton images or scripts of the world to get aroused. In fact, without conjuring up the dazzling enticements floating around in their imagination, they are impotent.
Let’s call this “Marital ED.”
If this describes you in that you cannot obtain sexual pleasure in your marriage without your mind being somewhere else, you are in serious trouble.
Though you may be physically faithful, you are committing adultery in your heart and allowing lust to swamp your life and especially your marriage.
A Reader Reacts
A reader named Steve had this to say in response to my earlier post called Spiritual ED:
I like the ED post a lot. I experienced many of the effects described when I was the deepest into porn. It was like the numbing effect of drinking too much beer. I had found myself moving deeper and deeper downward, increasingly dissatisfied, but rather than stopping, looking for the even bigger (more perverse) buzz. Thankfully, God disrupted the cycle.
Our flesh can be deceived when “everything is going OK.” Some men, especially young men, may be pretty new to porn, and even experiencing the opposite of ED. They need to be warned about how quickly that could change, at any age.
I also really liked your emphasis on Spiritual ED, because I experienced that as well.
Peter wrote that lust wars against the soul. (1 Peter 2:11) When we allow lust into our lives, it goes to work systematically and thoroughly destroying that which God has made including the intimacies of marriages and our spiritual effectiveness.
Three Kinds of ED—one Solution
Whether lust is working in you to cause ED, Marital ED or Spiritual ED, the solution is the same. By effectively overcoming lust you will be able to join Steve and many others in saying that “God disrupted the cycle.”
As we gain victory, we are no longer driven by our passions. Our desires are under control and focused in the way God intended for them to be. Those who do this are in a position to please God as to their sexual desires, thoughts and behavior and to delight in fully satisfying, honoring pleasure within their marriage.
