Artist William Blake completed a well-known etching that featured a little man climbing a ladder toward the moon. The caption read, “I Want! I Want!”
We are all like that little man. In our restlessness, we climb and climb, in search for the satisfaction we want. When we finally make it to the top of the ladder, we are disappointed. What we eventually grasp never satisfies.
The ladder of addiction is comprised of many rungs – pornography, masturbation, affairs, fantasy, euphoric recall, and more. Some of us have stepped on every one of those rungs on our way up the ladder to nowhere.
God has a better plan. “For I know the plans that I have for you, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Recovery Step: Before you take the next step up the ladder, make sure you want to be where you are going.
Author: Mark Denison
Mark and Beth Denison, married for 36 years, launched There’s Still Hope as a national movement to call men and women into lives of sexual integrity. Their ministry offers 90-day recovery plans for addicts and one-on-one and group coaching for addicts and their spouses. TSH also produces resources for pastors and churches to confront the porn epidemic that is destroying so many lives.
Dr. Denison was a senior pastor for over 30 years, NBA chaplain, and board chairman at Houston Baptist University three times. With a Master’s Degree in Addiction Recovery, Mark is a certified PSAP and active member of the American Association of Christian Counselors.
Mark has written four books on recovery: Porn in the Pew, 365 Days to Sexual Integrity, A 90-Day Recovery Guide, and 40 Days to Porn-Free Living. His latest book, Jesus on the 12 Steps, will be released later this year.
