I am wanting to seek wise counsel from other Christians about whether or not I should use a smartphone. I would prefer that you not use the quote function so I can edit out the embarrassing information later.
I have an iPhone but there have been a number of times I have gotten involved in sin with the iPhone. I do not have any other Internet access besides the iPhone. I have content restrictions setup on the phone, but I discovered there is no way to block a search function the iPhone has that lets you search for pictures of women dressed immodestly. I found that sleeping by the phone led to my recent failure involving this search function, so if I continue using iPhone in the future, I will endeavor not to sleep by the iPhone.
My approach to using the iPhone is if I get into trouble with lust, I lock up the iPhone temporarily to prevent further failure from happening and switch to using a flip phone with no Internet, and than after about a week or two I start using the iPhone again. However it has been a recurring cycle with me to get involved in lust. I think I may be compromising by going back to using the iPhone. However I think I may be able to be successful in not lusting if I simply don't sleep by the iPhone.
I am not sure I want to give up all the conveniences of iPhone, like a larger variety of worship music, convenient access to email, being able to play chess with people around the world, being able to listen to podcasts, etc. However I have been involved in very disrespectful behavior in lusting after women. My behavior of looking at women and masturbating has come to great levels of evil. Sometimes when I am lusting I have been interested in targeting married Christian women with lust and lusting after women wearing wedding dresses. I have found that I am tempted by something that is more off-limits or forbidden. Usually when I start using iPhone again, I dust myself off from the failure and start with a clean slate, but it's hard to clean myself off from the failure this time. This kind of sin is not the first thing I fall into if I have been walking in victory for a long time and for some reason give into lusting. However I think there still is a risk in being involved in that kind of behavior if I am using the iPhone.
In recent times, I had experienced a clear directive from God to quit using the iPhone, but I interpreted it as a temporary calling, because one time when I switched back to iPhone, I listened to a sermon where a preacher said that a strategy to walk in purity may include quitting using a device for two weeks. However because God did not give me any clear direction that I can switch back to iPhone, I may be presumptuous in starting to use my smartphone again.
I will explain more about the conveniences I don't really want to give up. I like to listen to Christian podcasts or sermons when I am working out or doing the dishes. I suppose I could download mp3s of sermons when I am at the library. I like to play worship music on a blue-tooth speaker out loud when I am at work, and I find that if I don't have this, I am listening to classical radio more often because my collection of mp3s is more distracting than worship music on iPhone. I suppose I could purchase more mp3s of worship music and have a larger music library. If I need a covid test I can fill out a form online, but without the smartphone I would have to have someone else fill it out for me. Also if my car breaks down and I need a ride, I can get Uber, but without the iPhone I might not be able to find a ride. Another thing is that the instructions that came with my GPS said not to store it in the car with temperature extremes because this hurts the battery, so if I choose not to store the GPS in the car, without the iPhone I am directionless. There is also a messaging app a church I go to uses to communicate with each other.
Email is a real issue. Without the iPhone I do not have convenient access to my Gmail account and I find I have to improvise by getting an email machine that operates over a landline phone. The cost of the email machine and landline together is about $45 a month.
However with all these conveniences, it may not be worth having the iPhone because one of my friends said that it would be difficult to explain to Jesus that I wanted these conveniences but gave myself access to sin, if Jesus were to come back.
I am also thinking of getting a Google Pixel phone because Android has better functionality of screenshot accountability software like covenant eyes, but there is a problem with access to a setting that can easily remove the accountability software, so I think this may be unwise too.
What do you think? Should I use a smartphone or quit using the smartphone forever?
I have an iPhone but there have been a number of times I have gotten involved in sin with the iPhone. I do not have any other Internet access besides the iPhone. I have content restrictions setup on the phone, but I discovered there is no way to block a search function the iPhone has that lets you search for pictures of women dressed immodestly. I found that sleeping by the phone led to my recent failure involving this search function, so if I continue using iPhone in the future, I will endeavor not to sleep by the iPhone.
My approach to using the iPhone is if I get into trouble with lust, I lock up the iPhone temporarily to prevent further failure from happening and switch to using a flip phone with no Internet, and than after about a week or two I start using the iPhone again. However it has been a recurring cycle with me to get involved in lust. I think I may be compromising by going back to using the iPhone. However I think I may be able to be successful in not lusting if I simply don't sleep by the iPhone.
I am not sure I want to give up all the conveniences of iPhone, like a larger variety of worship music, convenient access to email, being able to play chess with people around the world, being able to listen to podcasts, etc. However I have been involved in very disrespectful behavior in lusting after women. My behavior of looking at women and masturbating has come to great levels of evil. Sometimes when I am lusting I have been interested in targeting married Christian women with lust and lusting after women wearing wedding dresses. I have found that I am tempted by something that is more off-limits or forbidden. Usually when I start using iPhone again, I dust myself off from the failure and start with a clean slate, but it's hard to clean myself off from the failure this time. This kind of sin is not the first thing I fall into if I have been walking in victory for a long time and for some reason give into lusting. However I think there still is a risk in being involved in that kind of behavior if I am using the iPhone.
In recent times, I had experienced a clear directive from God to quit using the iPhone, but I interpreted it as a temporary calling, because one time when I switched back to iPhone, I listened to a sermon where a preacher said that a strategy to walk in purity may include quitting using a device for two weeks. However because God did not give me any clear direction that I can switch back to iPhone, I may be presumptuous in starting to use my smartphone again.
I will explain more about the conveniences I don't really want to give up. I like to listen to Christian podcasts or sermons when I am working out or doing the dishes. I suppose I could download mp3s of sermons when I am at the library. I like to play worship music on a blue-tooth speaker out loud when I am at work, and I find that if I don't have this, I am listening to classical radio more often because my collection of mp3s is more distracting than worship music on iPhone. I suppose I could purchase more mp3s of worship music and have a larger music library. If I need a covid test I can fill out a form online, but without the smartphone I would have to have someone else fill it out for me. Also if my car breaks down and I need a ride, I can get Uber, but without the iPhone I might not be able to find a ride. Another thing is that the instructions that came with my GPS said not to store it in the car with temperature extremes because this hurts the battery, so if I choose not to store the GPS in the car, without the iPhone I am directionless. There is also a messaging app a church I go to uses to communicate with each other.
Email is a real issue. Without the iPhone I do not have convenient access to my Gmail account and I find I have to improvise by getting an email machine that operates over a landline phone. The cost of the email machine and landline together is about $45 a month.
However with all these conveniences, it may not be worth having the iPhone because one of my friends said that it would be difficult to explain to Jesus that I wanted these conveniences but gave myself access to sin, if Jesus were to come back.
I am also thinking of getting a Google Pixel phone because Android has better functionality of screenshot accountability software like covenant eyes, but there is a problem with access to a setting that can easily remove the accountability software, so I think this may be unwise too.
What do you think? Should I use a smartphone or quit using the smartphone forever?