Video coming soon. The video teaching for Day 8 is still in production. Read the full lesson below, it will be added here as soon as it is ready.
Today we start Level 2. Here's the level: I sacrifice whatever is necessary to create distance between me and temptation.
Let's start with a story.
Pointe du Hoc
It's June 6th, 1944: D-Day. The largest amphibious invasion in history is unfolding along fifty miles of Norman coastline. But one piece of that story doesn't get told enough.
About four miles west of Omaha Beach sits Pointe du Hoc, a sheer rock face, a hundred feet straight up, jutting into the English Channel. At the top, the Germans had installed six artillery guns with range to cover both Omaha and Utah beaches simultaneously. Left operational, they could have turned two beaches full of landing craft and young men into open-water killing grounds. Those guns had to go.
The job went to the 2nd Ranger Battalion: 225 men, ordered to scale the cliff under fire, knock out the guns, and hold the position until reinforcements arrived. They fired grappling hooks up a hundred feet of wet rock. The Germans cut the ropes. They fired them again. They climbed, hand over hand, under fire, in the early morning darkness.
Of the 225 Rangers who started that assault, fewer than half were still standing when it was over. But they took the cliff. They disabled the guns. They made the rest of the invasion possible.
They didn't look for the least costly path to the objective. They said: whatever it costs, we take that position.
What that means for you
I'm not pretending that putting accountability software on your phone is the same as climbing Pointe du Hoc under fire. But I want you to carry the spirit of those men into what Level 2 asks of you. Because the men who win this battle aren't men trying to get free while protecting their options. They're men who look at whatever's standing between them and victory and say: whatever it costs, I'm taking that position.
"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood."
Let that sting a little. The whole chapter leading up to that verse is about men and women tortured, imprisoned, and killed for their faith. And the writer looks at readers who are struggling, tired, thinking about giving up, and says, essentially: you're struggling, yes, but let's be honest about how hard you've actually fought.
Most guys haven't gone all-out fighting this yet. They're still in a kind of gentleman's war with their own sin, negotiating, compromising, making deals with themselves they'd never say out loud:
- "I can't filter my computer, because I have to ___"
- "I can still scroll Instagram and TikTok, I just won't go too far."
- "Let's not be extreme, let's be reasonable."
- "I'll fight it, but I don't want to tell anyone right now."
That's not Pointe du Hoc. That's sitting in the boat, hoping the cliff takes care of itself.
Whatever it costs, take the position.
The six sacrifices Level 2 requires aren't optional extras. They're how you actually create distance from temptation instead of just talking about it.
What I had to get honest about
When I finally got serious about my own fight, I realized something that scared me: this thing had a grip on me that a normal amount of effort couldn't break. "Reasonable" effort wasn't cutting it. Doing the same thing but 10% harder wasn't cutting it. I had to get a little crazy.
I put a filter on my computer and gave my wife the password. I set up accountability reports to get emailed to my father-in-law. That'll put the fear of God in you.
I had to stop asking, "What's the minimum I need to do to get this under control?" and start asking, "What am I willing to do to actually win?" Those are completely different questions. The first keeps you managing. The second starts moving you toward freedom.
This isn't about white-knuckling your way to health. You can't actually do that. Blocking a few things and praying a little more doesn't make you healthy. But we're not talking about health yet. We're talking about stopping the bleeding. The wounded man on the field isn't going to get all the way to health from a tourniquet, but he does have to stop the bleeding, or he'll never get the chance to get healthy. That's where you're at.
Six things you'll have to sacrifice to win
- Self-Pleasure: I stop using my own body for private pleasure.
- Self-Trust: I stop being my own judge of how serious this is.
- Anonymity: I stop being anonymous and start being accountable.
- Comfort & Convenience: I stop protecting easy access.
- Escape: I stop running to a screen to escape pain.
- Excuses: I stop collecting reasons I can't win.
We'll cover each one, starting tomorrow.
This is Day 8 of Victory Over Pornography. Continue to Day 9 →