What Is Creeping into Our Homes During Lockdown?

Many of us across the globe are under lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

We may be confined to our homes, but the internet has made it possible for all sorts of stuff to enter our homes, and all it takes is the click of a button to possibly the change the course of our lives forever.

I recently came across an article which really left me reeling.  A pornography site took advantage of the lock-down and the marketing opportunity it presented, by offering it’s premium subscription service free to the entire world for 30 days.

Immediately, subscriptions from both men and women shot up. Among the countries with the highest increases in traffic were Mexico, Russia, Spain and India.

The writer of the article Rosie Makinney has actually written a book about this topic. She points out that a month of internet porn is more than enough time for someone to become dependent on this stimulus, and developing a porn addiction will continue to negatively impact marriages and families long after Covid-19 has subsided.

Makinney says internet porn is called the “crack-cocaine of sex addiction.” Research has shown that pornography addiction rewires the brain and destroys one’s ability to build real-life relationships. It basically creates a desire that’s never satisfied. More than 50 percent of divorces are believed to be linked to some from of pornography.

Heavy porn use not only hijacks the reward center of the brain, but it also impairs the prefrontal cortex. In other words, people who are addicted to porn in the long term are literally unable to think clearly or make rational decisions.

During our lock down, domestic abuse has also spiralled. With the sale of cigarettes and alcohol not being permitted in South Africa, people are using other illegal and often dangerous substances to fulfill their habits.

As families we need to sit back and take stock of what we have been allowing into our homes. Gossip, slander, incessant complaining and excessive cellphone use are among the things that can easily creep into our homes and take over the environment.

Deuteronomy 22:8 says “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.”

A parapet is a protective wall or railing along the edge of a raised structure like a roof or balcony. Its something that serves as a defence or a safeguard.

We must ensure that we have a wall that will protect us from falling. Many times we fall into sin because we haven’t built a parapet or a protective hedge.

Ecclesiases 10:8 puts it quite nicely.  It says “He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it, and whoever breaks a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.”

When the hedge is broken, the enemy will come in and strike.

There are a number of practical ways in which we can build a protective hedge.

Firstly we must take control of our minds and meditate upon the Word of God.

Secondly, apathy and laziness in various areas of our lives including our marriages, our devotional time, our health and finances will cause the wall to be broken down because we have no standard of excellence.

Thirdly, we must maintain relationships that will add value to our lives, and can push us in the right direction. Proverbs 13:20 says “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”

And finally we must be positioned under grace. By positioning ourselves to receive the instructions of a father through doctrine we partake of wisdom and understanding from God above.

Proverbs 4:6-10 says this of wisdom –

“Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honour, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace;  A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”

During this lock-down, let us do an audit of what we’ve allowed into our homes. Then let us re-build the wall and raise up our defence systems. Let’s remain vigilant and plug the holes in the wall that let sin in,  so that we and our families will remain protected.

Grace and peace to you!

Melini

Melini Moses together with her husband Justin, lead Life Community church in Johannesburg. She is a News Editor at the South African Broadcasting Corporation, a Dag Hammarskjold and World Press Institute Fellow.