Seeing God Clearly

“Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they will see God” - Matthew 5:8

 September 30, 2025

To begin this story, I want to introduce you to my friend Nick.

Nick became a close friend of mine in college. He was a faithful Catholic who had become very convicted of the need to truly follow the Church’s teaching on sexuality and to live purely. During our junior year, after I shared my own struggles with masturbation and pornography during a bible study, Nick challenged me to start taking my fight seriously by joining an accountability group with him. 

Initially, I was unsure if I wanted to say yes. I knew this would help me to be free, but I was also hesitant because, ultimately, he was inviting me to change my ways permanently. Up until that point, I had simply wanted to reduce the amount of setbacks I was having rather than quitting cold turkey. I didn’t think it was even possible to live a life of complete freedom. These sins had been a part of my life for so long that they clouded my vision and dulled my hope for anything better.

Nick, however, had been free for more than four months and seemed like he was totally happy and thriving! At the time, four months of freedom seemed impossible to me; and yet, he had done it! What Nick was inviting me into was essentially the mission of Fight Club: a complete recovery of my sight so I could see God and His call for my life more clearly. Nick saw that God wanted great things for me, but because sin had clouded my vision, I was unable to see that myself.

As I spent the next few days thinking about whether or not I should join the accountability group, I was inspired by Nick and began to wonder if total freedom from pornography and masturbation truly would offer me the peace and joy my heart had been longing for. I had always assumed satiating my lustful desires was something I needed, like food or water or sleep. But suppose it actually wasn’t necessary? If there was even a sliver of hope that living out God’s design for my sexuality instead of my own could actually make me more happy, —well that would change everything.

So, in a leap of faith, I decided to say yes. I can’t emphasize enough how pivotal a moment this was for me in my life. My life completely changed. After having almost daily setbacks for nine years, I experienced multiple months, and eventually multiple years of sobriety. The transformation of sight I experienced was incredible. It felt like up until that point I could only see in black and white, but now I could see everything in color. It felt like I had been living in a fog for much of my life without knowing it, and that fog was now gone. 

Although I didn’t fully enter into the Catholic Church until two years later, I often look back on this moment as the day I became a new man in Christ. Did I have perfect confidence and trust in God that I could experience total freedom? No. Did I never have any setbacks after that moment? Absolutely not! The reason my life completely changed this day is because it was the first time I actively chose Jesus Christ and His ways over my own. Although we are called to strive for perfection, victory in this life is not about being perfect or never falling– it’s about choosing Christ no matter what. 

Five years later, just two weeks ago, I attended Nick’s wedding. After fighting side-by-side with him in the battle for purity of heart for so many years, words cannot describe the joyful experience of seeing my friend and brother in Christ finally be joined in Holy Matrimony to the woman he has been fighting for all along. 

Brothers: This is what it’s all about! Whether it’s fighting online pornography or being more free from screen time addiction, this is about fighting for real love and the real present moment. Whatever vocation the Lord is calling you to, I want you and your brothers in the fight to experience the sort of joy and peace that can only come from intimacy with Christ and having a pure heart. 

Fight for God. Fight for your brothers. Fight for her.