“Finally Free” by Heath Lambert

In the opening line of Finally Free, Heath Lambert makes it very clear: “This book is not about pornography.” While the book does deal with the issue of pornography and other sexual sins, the book is not about those things. Instead, it is about something far more important: Jesus and His power to free you from sin. Finally Free offers a solution to the pornography problem that, while intensely practical, is rooted at every step in the grace and power of Jesus.

Unlike many resources and books in the genre of fighting sexual sins, I felt that this book put the emphasis where it is truly most needed: on our relationship with Jesus. Practical tactics and strategies are well and good – and this book does include them – but they will ultimately fail unless they are built upon the foundation of a relationship with Jesus. Lambert does an excellent job establishing Jesus as the foundation of his book and then building up from there his “eight gospel-centered strategies for overcoming pornography.” His presentation is straightforward, clear, and engaging – a good balance of both challenging and encouraging the reader.

I would note one area of slight disagreement. In the chapter that discusses pride as the root problem of those who look at pornography, Lambert states that those who teach that this addiction is an attempt to fill an emptiness or loneliness in their life misunderstand the nature of the problem. He asserts, instead, that the core of the problem has to do with selfish ambition. While I really appreciated his insights and agree that selfishness is the heart of the issue, I think he misunderstand the connection between emptiness (a lack of true love inside us) and our own selfish desires. Rather than being mutually exclusive, they actually are two sides of the same coin – in our attempt to find unconditional love to satisfy our existence, we turn towards selfish and destructive sources, rather than to Jesus, who alone can both satisfy and transform us into loving, unselfish beings. Perhaps my disagreement is just a matter of terminology, but I wanted to mention it nonetheless.

Overall, if I had to recommend one book specifically on the topic of pornography, it would be this book. More than any other book on this issue that I’ve read, Finally Free hits the target, emphasizing the balanced nature of Christian victory: active engagement with Christ in overcoming sins in our lives while fully depending on His grace to provide the power to both forgive and cleanse our hearts and actions.

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I received this book free from the publisher through the Booksneeze.com book review bloggers program in exchange for my honest review.