Secrets: a true story of addiction, infidelity, and second chances by Jonathan Daugherty

About the book: (from the publisher) Everyone has a secret or two areas of their life they would rather not share with the general public. But Jonathan Daugherty had a life-altering, relationship-ending secret that he wanted to keep hidden at all costs.

And it did cost him. His secret snatched away contentment, peace, and the possibility of being known and loved for who he really is. That’s what any addiction can do but in particular a sex addiction. When his wife finally realized who Jonathan really was and what he was really doing, their marriage seemed to be over. Jonathan shares honestly and courageously his story of pornography addiction to it and how he lost everything.

But that s not the whole story. Someone else was at work while Jonathan was struggling his heavenly Father. At the lowest possible moment of his life, God stepped in and brought hope and healing. This is a story of loss and redemption that will give hope to anyone who has ever experienced the power of addiction and its life-destroying effects.

Addiction doesn’t have the last word in Jonathan s life or in his marriage. The God who finds the lost, heals the sick, and brings life from death has the last, victorious word.

About the author: Jonathan Daugherty is the founder of Be Broken Ministries, and founder of Gateway to Freedom workshop for men. He also hosts the weekly radio broadcast, Pure Sex Radio, and is in demand nationally as a speaker on sexual purity and men s issues. He has appeared on multiple radio and television media, both local and national. He has authored Grace-Based Recovery, The 4 Pillars of Purity, and other works. Jonathan lives with his wife and three children in San Antonio, Texas.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Vimeo

Genre: Non-fiction/Religion/Christian Life/Men’s Issues

[bctt tweet=”Hope and help for men hooked on porn (& for the women who love them) #Secrets @jmdaugherty @Litfuse” username=”KatherineSJones”]

My take: I don’t often feature a book on this blog that deals primarily with men’s issues, but even though Secrets is a “men’s issues” book, it is truly a resource for men and women. Because when porn affects a man, it also affects the woman who loves him.

The other day I read that 68% of Christian men view porn on a regular basis. Does that number not hit you in the gut? It means that even if neither you nor your spouse has a porn addiction, you know someone who does. Probably several someones, and you may or may not know it.

As staggering as that stat is, however, it does nothing to reveal the devastating consequences of porn (addiction or not). Porn shatters relationships. It ends marriages. It breeds despair — and worse.

To be perfectly honest, I felt queasy and a little depressed reading the first half of Secrets as I saw how easy it is for boys-who-become-men to fall prey to pornography. Certainly Jonathan Daugherty did a good job of painting the picture, with clarity and insight. What made his insights into the nature of pornography especially compelling was that he was able to frame them within a greater context of what makes a relationship healthy — because it’s in knowing this that unhealthy patterns can be unidentified.

Thankfully, as Jonathan’s own story reveals, there is hope for addicts. There’s grace and the potential for redemption for those who dare to claim it.

I found Secrets to be a powerful resource, concise and to the point. I would recommend it to anyone who has a loved one struggling with this issue. It’s short (about 120 pages), personal, wise, and hope-filled.

Secrets opened my eyes to the problem of pornography, but also and even greater, to God’s grace that, as Jonathan says, stretches farther than any sin we can ever commit.

Which is good news indeed for porn addicts and those who love them.

Thanks to Litfuse Publicity and New Growth Press for providing me this book free of charge. All opinions are mine.