Daily struggles with sin.

[uponthecross]

Masturbation.
I want to break free from it, and I really do.

I'm in need of help and I really need advices and verses to help me through my struggles when I'm fighting with the devil. & I know all of it comes from the word of God and yes I always felt that God is disappointed in me as after I've sinned each time. I'm currently 19 this year and this problem has been stuck with me for the past 3 years I supposed? & frankly speaking, it sucks alot.

Galatians 6:7-8 says,
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

This verse has been a wallpaper on my computer and yes I'm feeling very guilty that everything when all the lustful thoughts comes to my head, and whenever I'm on my desktop, I just merely read through the word as if it meant nothing at all to me. & on facebook, there would be this post by this facebook group called - Jesus Daily. It posts status and everything about how good our Lord is. Yes I know he is good, and each time whenever I see the post there, I'd be skipping through it and I feel reluctant, empty and like I don't even wanna know God anymore.

I know this would become a huge problem if it continues on but however I know I might be able to say this today about my problems, and I would like to seek forgiveness from the Lord. But yet, each time after I pray sincerely, the next following days, I'd be tempted to go back to sin again. & I've been telling myself, to fight all battles on my knees. & I know the thoughts that comes to my mind would be like : "Would God like to see me like this? Is what you are doing even worth it? Does it pleases God?", and for that single moment I wanted to stop all that I'm doing and go to the Lord in prayer, and yet the part of Jesus lives in me in my mind just switched off. & there I am, I sinned again.

Everything seemed to be going downhill and my faith in God keeps on fluctuating like on and off kinda thing and I hate it. I mean it just feel so much more distant that it used to be last time.

1 John 3:6 says,
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

1 John 1:9 says,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I confess to God all of my sins before I sleep everytime and to be honest, I feel disgusted at myself for the sin that I've done. & I remembered God said our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. & if I'm doing things like this, I know I'd be ending up in Hell for sure. & it also clearly states that if He who keeps on sinning with the knowledge that God still forgives him, there is nothing left for him. Or something like that, and I feel that I'm the one that it was and has been stated about.

I don't want to be trapped in sin anymore! Please, help me out here.

[Dani H]

It's not unusual for a lad your age to do these things. Better that, than chasing after ladies and having sex with them and dragging other people into our lusts, I say. But, I do believe there is a way for the Lord to deal with our many lusts and wants and desires, and yes, our hormones also. Opening up and getting honest about it, is a good thing. Because guilt and shame eats us alive if we keep things to ourselves. I don't personally see masturbation (minus porn !!!) as sinful but that's my opinion, and you will find opposing views here of course. But my personal advice to you would be to focus yourself on LOVE which is the opposite of LUST and to let the Lord model to you how you can be a single young man walking in holiness and living a godly life. He has done it; He can show you. So never give up seeking after the Lord, seeking to overcome your baser urges in favor the of godly discipline and self-control that we all need.

Jesus is coming soon. So ... live every moment in preparation of that. Busy yourself with that which you want Him to find you doing when He returns, because that's reality. Occupy until He returns. Live your life out in the open, no guilt, no shame, doing the Lord's work and with the thought in mind "If He returns today is THIS what I want Him to see me doing?" So there you go. Get your thoughts off yourself and on God. Get over yourself and trust God to take care of you, and lay down your life for others, to help those in need of God's love: The poor and needy, the forsaken and the desparate. There's millions of them out there and so you will never run out of things to do for them, I promise you. Find something bigger than you, and go serve the Lord in that.

Matthew 25

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

[Kyle]

This is a touchy subject with folks, especially Christians. Many point out how Jesus said lusting after a woman is sin, and what do most people do when
they masturbate? Unless it is something you do all the time, everywhere you are, I do not see sin in it. When I was a teenager I do not know what I
could have done except explode. Your body, made by our Lord, produces semen, and can almost compare it to not urinating because of what
one piece of scripture says. It is there and does need to leave. I am 51, married with children. But I never saw anything wrong with masturbating as a
young man. No guilt. Now as I got older I understood that now it is not needed, but if it were, hey, why not.

I believe in the complete Word of God and do not live by one scripture, but I live by comparing scripture with scripture. If you are God's child, no matter
what, He will always love you and always forgive you. You are never lost. <><

[justharold]

This is a touchy subject with folks, especially Christians. Many point out how Jesus said lusting after a woman is sin, and what do most people do when
they masturbate? Unless it is something you do all the time, everywhere you are, I do not see sin in it. When I was a teenager I do not know what I
could have done except explode. Your body, made by our Lord, produces semen, and can almost compare it to not urinating because of what
one piece of scripture says. It is there and does need to leave. I am 51, married with children. But I never saw anything wrong with masturbating as a
young man. No guilt. Now as I got older I understood that now it is not needed, but if it were, hey, why not.

I believe in the complete Word of God and do not live by one scripture, but I live by comparing scripture with scripture. If you are God's child, no matter
what, He will always love you and always forgive you. You are never lost. <><

Wow...that was just wrong on soooo many levels...

[jayne]

Just a couple of thoughts.

Whether masturbation is a sin or not isn't a hill I'm willing to die on. However, because it many times involves porn (in so many different contexts and formats), fantasizing about someone you are not married to, triggered by sinful thoughts - no matter how flickeringly brief, and can become habitually addictive to the point of taking over one's mindset, I would have to say one should strive to abstain from it.

Like most physical pleasures that we feel are not good for us spiritually or even physically, when we try to abstain from them the devil will usually hit us hard over the head with the idea that this particular need is the most critical and important need we have. Whether it be the extra slice of chocolate cake or super-sized McDonald's Big Mac, having sex with that hot guy at the office, drowning one's pain in alcohol, smoking two packs a day, cutting, or watching porn.

He's really good at making us beleive that if we don't get that need met that we will suffer greatly. The devil also throws in the notion that "everybody else gets to indulge so why can't I?!?!?"

Once we get wrapped up in the pity party of "it's not fair!!!", we are pretty much hooked.

And then comes the guilt, despair, and just plain old feeling wretched and that we have let God down and that - because of our constant slip-ups - that God just doesn't love us like He loves everyone else and He CERTAINLY can't use us or help us.

And THAT'S where the devil wants us to be as Christians. The porn, substance abuse, food abuse, adultery, and the rest - the devil doesn't really care which one works - or even if it takes a more than one.

He will use anything. And sometimes in your 20's it's one thing and in your 50's it's another. The devil's prime goal is to beat you down so that you focus more on your failures than you do God's mercy and grace. If he can get you so self-absorbed that you try to "fix" it all yourself and ignore your walk with Christ, the devil has accomplished his goal.

You have no idea how many Christians are suffering this way.

Scripture? Here's some to meditate on.

• John 15:5 - "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (You aren't going to be able to deal with this on your own.)
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 - "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."(Pray to God to reveal to you the way of escape that He has provided for you.)
• Phillipians 4:8 - "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
• Proverbs 4:23 - "Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
• Matthew 26:41 - "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
• 1 John 4:4 - "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. "
• John 8:44b - "He (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
• Colossians 3:1-4 - "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is yourlife appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

[gringo300]

I've said this many times, both on and off this board:

THE ISSUE OF MASTURBATION IS JUST ONE PART OF A BIGGER PICTURE.

A lot of people have a fixation on this one issue (masturbation).

Many people concentrate so much on the issue of masturbation, they don't look at the issue of sexual fantasy as an issue in itself.

One can fantasize about things sexual without masturbating. Fantasizing about things sexual without masturbating can also LEAD TO masturbating. Then, a person can feel so much guilt about masturbating, that they don't even think about the issue of sexual fantasy, and the rightness or wrongness of that in and of itself.

I know this from experience: Fantasizing about something CANNOT satisfy a person, no matter how much that person has convinced him or herself that it can or does. It CAN, however, bring upon a person an indescribable amount of frustration. It can also corrupt a person's mind.

[BroRog]

Masturbation.
I want to break free from it, and I really do.

I'm in need of help and I really need advices and verses to help me through my struggles when I'm fighting with the devil. & I know all of it comes from the word of God and yes I always felt that God is disappointed in me as after I've sinned each time. I'm currently 19 this year and this problem has been stuck with me for the past 3 years I supposed? & frankly speaking, it sucks alot.

Galatians 6:7-8 says,
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

This verse has been a wallpaper on my computer and yes I'm feeling very guilty that everything when all the lustful thoughts comes to my head, and whenever I'm on my desktop, I just merely read through the word as if it meant nothing at all to me. & on facebook, there would be this post by this facebook group called - Jesus Daily. It posts status and everything about how good our Lord is. Yes I know he is good, and each time whenever I see the post there, I'd be skipping through it and I feel reluctant, empty and like I don't even wanna know God anymore.

I know this would become a huge problem if it continues on but however I know I might be able to say this today about my problems, and I would like to seek forgiveness from the Lord. But yet, each time after I pray sincerely, the next following days, I'd be tempted to go back to sin again. & I've been telling myself, to fight all battles on my knees. & I know the thoughts that comes to my mind would be like : "Would God like to see me like this? Is what you are doing even worth it? Does it pleases God?", and for that single moment I wanted to stop all that I'm doing and go to the Lord in prayer, and yet the part of Jesus lives in me in my mind just switched off. & there I am, I sinned again.

Everything seemed to be going downhill and my faith in God keeps on fluctuating like on and off kinda thing and I hate it. I mean it just feel so much more distant that it used to be last time.

1 John 3:6 says,
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

1 John 1:9 says,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I confess to God all of my sins before I sleep everytime and to be honest, I feel disgusted at myself for the sin that I've done. & I remembered God said our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. & if I'm doing things like this, I know I'd be ending up in Hell for sure. & it also clearly states that if He who keeps on sinning with the knowledge that God still forgives him, there is nothing left for him. Or something like that, and I feel that I'm the one that it was and has been stated about.

I don't want to be trapped in sin anymore! Please, help me out here.

Jesus said that the truth will set you free. So if you want to be free, find the truth in the situation. First, let's admit up front that masturbation feels good. That's why we do it. It's like tickling yourself or something, giving you pleasure. The sex act is a god-given expression of your biology, which brings both pleasure AND a sense of well-being afterward. It's important to admit this fact. After a man has sex, his body quiets down, his respiration slows down, he relaxes, he feels at peace, AND his mind gets sharper for a moment. After Sex we men have a brief moment of clarity before we fall asleep. During that moment of clarity, when the mind is sharp, is when we take stock of what just happened.

Now, if you pull up to the gas station of love and use the self-service pumps, your body is going to experience the same biological process whether you used the self-serve pumps or not. Your body doesn't know the difference. As far as your body is concerned, you just had sex with your wife. Your biology works the same way all the time, whether you do it yourself or you express your biology with a partner. Your body will respond with pleasure followed by a moment of relaxation and clarity, whether self-serve or full service. You are going to feel good, and relaxed and have that moment of clarity.

So why do we feel guilty?

We feel guilty because, while our body doesn't know the difference, our mind can see the disconnect. If we attend the self-serve pumps, we are going to experience both the pleasure and the clarity, but in our moment of clarity, we face the truth about what just happened. Even if we didn't feel guilty, we still feel stupid because we realize that we laughed at our own joke like we didn't know the punchline or something. Sex is a beautiful way to express intimacy with your wife. Exposing the genitals is an act of such vulnerability, it should only be shared with someone you love, and as such, it remains a tender expression of ultimate trust. After we masturbate and during our moment of clarity we realize that we don't have a partner, which is pathetic. There is nothing more pathetic than a woman who thinks she is married to Elvis, except a boy who thinks he has a partner in his hand. Us boys are pathetic sometimes.

We are finding the truth in it, so stay with me.

Our sense of guilt doesn't come from God; it comes from us. What we experience as "guilt" is actually a sense of embarrassment. The sex act with a partner becomes an expression of our vulnerability, but left to ourselves this turns to sadness, pity, and self-loathing. During our relaxing moment of clarity, we realize what just happened, that we pretended to have a partner. And how pitiful is that? Right?

Okay, more truth. You are young and inexperienced. You went through puberty just a short time ago and it's only natural to experiment with your body. Knowledge and experience is also a gift from God. It's okay to experiment with the equipment to see how it works and to get to know yourself. Also, under the right conditions and for the right reasons, masturbation is used to practice self-control during foreplay. The goal is to attempt to train yourself to sustain pleasure before orgasm, so that when you have sex with your partner, you will be able to time your climax.

Masturbation itself isn't a sin. Pretending you have a partner, when you don't is a sin. Someone once told me that the enemy of faith is not reason; the enemy of faith is fantasy. Don't feel guilty for masturbating; feel guilty for lying to yourself. Don't fool yourself; don't pretend to have a partner. Don't lie to yourself. Don't pretend that a woman (real or imagined) likes you, and wants you. Accept the truth of any given situation. Be satisfied with where God has placed you and seek to understand yourself as you really are. Galatians 6:7-8 is a good reminder but take that verse off your desktop. Replace it with Philippians 4:8-9.

After your masturbation experience, when you are relaxed and clear about things, you mind begins to wander and you begin to project your feelings onto God and Satan. This is also fantasy. Satan is not tempting you and God is not mad at you. The disappointment you feel is your own. You wish to be a stronger man and you are disappointed you are not. But don't forget, you are only 19. You are still growing in maturity and growing in faith. As you gain experiences in life, you will get stronger and centered, and planted and clear about life. Things like this will fall away and you will be looking for new challenges and new moments of clarity. Occupy your mind and your time with honorable thoughts and activities. Find the truth in everything and in order to find the truth about yourself, be honest with yourself about yourself.

The fact that you decided to share your challenges here, is the mark of someone who is maturing and growing. Your awareness is the mark of someone in partnership with the Holy Spirit and the two of you are working these things out. Most importantly approach God in humility and thankfulness. Be sure to thank God often and in everything.

[mailmandan]

If David, who was “a man after God’s own heart,” and many other strong men and women of faith yielded to sexual temptation, it could happen to any of us. Pornography may be the new addiction of this new century. Researchers are finding that when people indulge in porn, they release powerful chemicals in their brain and body. Mark Kastleman, author of The Drug of the New Millennium, said, "There are a growing number of therapists and psychologists who are saying that this is as addictive as cocaine," or alcohol, or even heroin. He explained that, when people view porn, "It causes the brain to release what we call endogenous drugs or endogenous chemicals. 'Endogenous' meaning 'produced from within.' So where cocaine or alcohol seek to mimic the brain's natural chemicals, pornography releases the real deal. And so we have things like adrenaline, epinephrine, ACTH."

Due to our fallen nature, we will have to deal with the temptation to lust until we die. The temptation to lust will come in many forms including ungodly sexual appetites; and there are lusts, such as the lust of power, fame or position. We must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit inside us to overcome lust every day. No matter the form of lust we face, we can be assured that we have a High Priest and Advocate with the Father who "understands every weakness of ours" and "was tempted in every way that we are. But He did not sin" (Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 2:1).

Walk in the Spirit - Submit your life to the Holy Spirit. "If you are guided by the Spirit, you won't obey your selfish desires" (Galatians 5:16). Remember, you can't fight lust on your own, so rely on the Holy Spirit to help you.

Renew your mind - Focus on God's Word and allow Him to remove your lustful thoughts and actions (Romans 12:2). Put away everything that appeals to the flesh and focus on God (Ephesians 4:17-24; 2 Corinthians 10:5). Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Romans 13:14).

Resist and flee - Perhaps the best advice all is simply this: Run! Don't allow lust to linger in your mind. Get far away from situations and influences that threaten to trap you (1 Corinthians 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:22; James 4:7-8).

Continue to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

A poll conducted by "the world's most visited Christian website" indicates a surprising number of Christians are addicted to pornography.

"The poll results indicate that 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography.

The group defines "addicted" as applied to pornography as use on an ongoing basis.

"We are seeing an escalation to the problem in both men and women who regularly attend church," said Bill Cooper, President of ChristiaNet.com.

"No one is immunized against the vice-grip clutches of sexual addictive behaviors," reads a release issued by the site. "The people who struggle with the repeated pursuit of sexual gratification include church members, deacons, staff, and yes, even clergy."

How many Christians (especially) men can honestly say, "whenever I am tempted to lust, I NEVER give in." I have 100% conquered that sin. No problem?