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DIRTY GIRLS MINISTRIES

By Lisa Gagnon Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Drew Selby | Flickr (Creative Commons)

Photo Credit: Drew Selby | Flickr (Creative Commons)

Porn. We are only now beginning to realize the extent of its effects on the brain, relationships, and society at a time when sexually explicit content is just a click away. Christians have recognized pornography’s negative impact for decades, yet it is still often considered a “male” problem within the Church. This can leave women who struggle with porn addiction feeling isolated and alone.

Crystal Renaud, the founder of Dirty Girls Ministries (recently rebranded as SheRecovery and now located at SheRecovery.com), discovered a dirty magazine in her brother’s room at age 10 and became addicted to porn, continuing to view it as a youth group leader in high school. After recovering from her own addiction, she started Dirty Girls Ministries in 2009 to provide women with help, hope and healing from pornography and sexual addiction by creating safe spaces of accountability and community.

So, what’s so bad about porn anyway? Fight The New Drug (fightthenewdrug.org) has compiled research showing that pornography is not private gratification without consequences in the real world. From a neurological perspective, porn releases dopamine, the same pleasure chemical found in addictive drugs. With the flood of dopamine, the brain compensates by removing some of the receptors, so that over time it will take harder and harder porn to get the same “high.”

Seeing idealized, flawless, and submissive women on screen can also set men (and women) up for failure and disappointment in their real life relationships. Porn’s version of intimacy is passive, cruel, and self-serving, while real love requires sacrifice, compromise, and commitment. Seeing women (and men) treated as objects online is more likely to make viewers desensitized to real abuse, and even act out the violence themselves. Add to that the drugs, abuse, and trafficking found in the industry, and we can see that porn is extremely damaging—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

As Christians, however, we believe that pornography also has a spiritual component. Though the Bible doesn’t address online porn, it does speak often about “sexual immorality,” or anything deviating from God’s original plan for monogamous sex within a life-long marriage. Though there may be disagreements about how to apply verses about sexuality to our day and culture, the apostle Paul advised the Corinthian people to “flee” from sexual sin, because they were to commit their bodies (and hearts and minds) to glorifying God rather than themselves (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

Dirty Girls Ministries addresses the spiritual significance of porn as the basis for their recovery process. New members are encouraged to take the Personal Inventory, a series of questions self-evaluating the scope of addiction and sexual activities, in order to “admit our true condition and know exactly where we are.” According to their website, addiction recovery involves “understanding the seriousness of sexual sin,” “evaluating where you are vulnerable to sexual sin,” “confessing honestly where you have messed up,” and “committing to sexual purity from this day forward.” Addicts accomplish these goals through five steps:

1. Surrender: “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

2. Confession: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.” 1 John 1:9

3. Accountability: “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” Proverbs 12:15

4. Responsibility: “Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.” Ezra 4:10

5. Sharing: “They have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” Revelation 12:11

DIRTY GIRLS MINISTRIES - New Identity Magazine

Dirty Girls Ministries helps women through their recovery process with their free protected online community of over 2500 members. After joining, members are encouraged to form MeetAbility groups to work through Dirty Girls Come Clean, Crystal Renaud’s memoir about sexual addiction. Then, the women find someone to keep them accountable and on track with their goals, take responsibility in mending broken relationships, and share what they have learned with others.

For more information about Dirty Girls Ministries, which is now a sub-ministry of WHOLE Women Ministries, visit www.dirtygirlsministries.com or call (913) 667-9492. There is also a form to request Crystal Renaud as a speaker if you are interested in facilitating a conversation about female porn addiction, or a variety of other topics, at your own church. For men, spouses, and parents, there are many other resources as well, including XXX Church (www.xxxchurch.com) and Blazing Grace (www.blazinggrace.org). Integrity Restored also has a list of books, websites and support groups (integrityrestored.com/resources-for-overcoming-pornography-addiction/).

DIRTY GIRLS MINISTRIES - New Identity Magazine

Addiction of any kind is isolating, but Christian women struggling with sexual addiction may feel too embarrassed and ashamed to tell anyone. If that’s you, know that you are not alone. There are many other women in the same position as you, and true friends will walk alongside you no matter what. Dirty Girls Ministries is a wonderful resource for recovery and accountability, and the message in their name is even better. Even the “dirtiest” girls can come clean physically from their addiction, and spiritually through a relationship with God.

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Filed Under: Featured, Give Back, Live Tagged With: Issue 32

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Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on ou Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on our own is in vain. We can never hope to achieve the same level that Jesus was on while we are still here on Earth. We’re like little kids, struggling just to walk. But that’s why Jesus gave us an example of redeemed followers in the form of the Apostles, who were his close group of students here on Earth. He chose a group of broken, sinful men, and ultimately shaped them into the group responsible for continuing his ministry here on Earth. ⁠
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✍🏽: Tim VanDeWalker in "Running By Example" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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The Bible tells us to live in the world, but not t The Bible tells us to live in the world, but not to become like it. The New Living Translation puts it this way, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Rom. 12:2a). Some have interpreted this as an instruction to reject anything that isn’t explicitly Christian. But I don’t think that’s what this verse is getting at. I think it means much more.⁠
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If you desire to serve, seek to form groups withou If you desire to serve, seek to form groups without age distinction. Maybe you want to form a group in your church. Avoid just inviting members from your age group. Seek out people older and younger than you to invite to meet together. Find that person who sits alone and talk to her or him. Instead of a focus on building groups that have the same characteristics to “relate” with one another, you center your discussion in the work of Christ. He will bring the group together. ⁠
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✍🏽: Russell Almand in "Community and Age Diversity" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
"If we put our faith in temporal things, they will "If we put our faith in temporal things, they will inevitably let us down. They were never meant to be enough for us. Not alone. When Barnum finally does hit bottom, he recognizes that his heart has been led astray, fooled into thinking that fame or fortune could satisfy him."⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "The Greatest Showman" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
"Porn. We are only now beginning to realize the ex "Porn. We are only now beginning to realize the extent of its effects on the brain, relationships, and society at a time when sexually explicit content is just a click away. Christians have recognized pornography’s negative impact for decades, yet it is still often considered a “male” problem within the Church. This can leave women who struggle with porn addiction feeling isolated and alone. The organization SheRecovery (formerly Dirty Girls Ministries) aims to change that and has become a resource for women with porn addiction. You can read more about their ministry at the link in our bio. ⁠
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✍🏽: Lisa Gagnon in "Dirty Girls Ministries" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
"The presence of my sin reminds me of my great nee "The presence of my sin reminds me of my great need for grace, and good works are the outpouring of a grateful heart; being a good child is not a means of earning the favor of God."⁠
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Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” There is yet another parallel between the Christian story and The Matrix, simultaneously the most foundational and the most captivating. It’s that something which is missing, something which is not quite right with the world. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know that it’s there. At the outset of the first film, Neo is searching for it. Trinity asserts that “it’s the question that drives us.” Morpheus claims that “you can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes.” The question is: What if I’ve only ever scratched the surface of all that life has to offer? What if there is a deeper, truer current of reality, ever-present behind all of my life’s experiences, to which I might awaken at any moment?⁠
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"I’ve always been intrigued by Augustine because "I’ve always been intrigued by Augustine because we all struggle with temptations to sin. And we all struggle to live in a way that honors God. Like Augustine we all feel the tug of our past sins that say, 'Don’t you want to enjoy us?' And Augustine’s story relates to Galatians 5:16-26 where Paul tells us about how the Christian life is like a walk. In a way, walking is a metaphor for the Christian life." ⁠
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