Latest / Intentional Guy / I CANCELED IT / COVENANT EYES
Transcript
- Michael Chestnut: I'm going to confess something to you. A few years back, money got tight. We had a bad car accident, and then I couldn't work. So me and my wife sat down and started cutting everything we could. And I looked at Covenant Eyes and said, I don't need that anymore. I'm doing good. I've got my accountability partners and I'm fine. So I canceled it. And I'm the guy who tells everything. every man I meet to put it on every device he owns. I'm Michael Chestnut and this is the intentional guy. Here's the pattern when things are going good. We drop our guard. We don't do it all at once. We do it quietly. We skip a meeting. We stop checking in. We cancel the things that protect us because we don't feel like we need protecting anymore. I'm doing good is one of the most dangerous thing a man in recovery can say. And this isn't just a few guys. When Sam Black and I went over the numbers on yesterday's episode, it was about three out of every four Christian men. Picture four men in your pew on Sunday. Three of them are looking at porn at least once in a while. Three out of four in church. Now, hear me. I wasn't looking for a way out. The money was real. The cuts were real. My wife and I were living on the bare minimum. And I really was doing good. I'm not ashamed of that. But doing good is not the same as being safe. The enemy doesn't need a crisis to get to you. He just needs an open door. And for most of us, that door is sitting in our pocket right now. If the enemy's going to get to me, it's going to be through those devices. Job said something I keep coming back to in Job 31, one. I made a covenant with my eyes, not to look lustfully at a young woman. Job is didn't wait to be tempted and then tried to win. He decided ahead of time. He made a covenant before the moment came. That's what protection is. It is a decision you make when you're strong for the moments that you're weak. This year, God started convicting me. I'd be sitting across the table from a man at coffee. I'd meet with at least Two guys a week. And I tell them, get covenant eyes on your device. And then in my head, I'm thinking, how do I tell this man to do something I don't have? That's not leadership, that's hypocrisy. And here's the other thing: I'm helping men all the time. I sit with a lot of darkness. And I told my wife, it's hard to touch darkness. And darkness not touch you back sometimes. I'd be naive to think I couldn't fall into pornography again. Naive. So I told my wife, I want to find the money. And she said, if anything, you should have it. She wanted me to have it. So I signed back up. What changed is I stopped treating protection like punishment. Covenant Eyes isn't just for the guy who's struggling. It's for the man who doesn't want to be tempted. It's for the man who wants to stay free. So here's what I tell every man at coffee. The first thing, before anything else, one, write down every device you own. Everyone. Your phone, your laptop, your iPad, your work computer. The old tablet in the drawer, the one you forgot about, is the one that will get you. Two, put protection on every device on that list. Not most of them, all of them. Three, pick your ally. One man, I have two, who gets the report and who will sit down with you and say, okay, what happened on that day? Not a man who throws stones. But a man who walks with you. So here's my challenge. Be honest with yourself. We'll pay for Netflix, we'll pay for Amazon Prime. We don't even think about it. But we won't consider protecting the heart we gave to our wives. Tonight, before you go to bed, get a piece of paper and write down every device. Then look at that list and ask yourself which ones are protected? If you missed yesterday's episode, Go back and listen to my conversation with Sam Black from Covenant Eyes. He breaks down why men get stuck and how to get out of it. If you want to get Covenant Eyes, there's a link in the description. Use that link. It's especially for us, and it will give you 30 days free, and it will also help our channel. And if you want to plan. For this fight, grab my book Are You Ready? A practical battle plan for Christian Men. It's on Amazon. Comment covenant below if you're making that list tonight. If this hit close to home, you don't have to do this alone. Find a celebrate recovery group near you. And in Pensacola, we meet every Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Momentum Church. Let's get coffee. Let me be your brother. Let me walk beside you. And until next time, just keep being intentional.