Breaking the chains (of sin and darkness)...?

[Neogaia777]

What's the best way to combat/approach/deal with/come against and overcome "sin" and darkness? (dark, evil, wicked, or wrong thoughts or thinking) Wrong behaviors/attitudes/perceptions/outlooks...

What's the best way to deal with these things, and how does a person truly change (them)...? Is it by our effort and work or something "we" do, or God? Or, a combination of both? And, how does that work...?

I posted this to someone who was having lustful thoughts, and how we need to just stop wrong thinking before it becomes sin (before it becomes wrong behavior/attitudes/outlooks, or actions) (before it becomes sin)...

I posted this, but it can apply to any kind of wrong thoughts or behavior/actions/attitudes...



I still struggle sometimes, but a lot less than I use to, as I am trying to stay chaste and pure sexually as well... Short and simple...? Just "don't think about it at all" cast those thoughts down and away...

Helps not to be idle a lot, find hobbies for your spare time, keep busy, do other things (like hobbies or activities) that you enjoy in your spare time... Don't let or be around outside influences that would spurn sexual thoughts, like people who like to talk about it, or especially your media that you watch or are exposed to... Eliminate it from your world...

Think back to when you were a child and didn't have any sexual thoughts, if that helps, and try to remember and go back to that again, but as a child of God now...

It won't be easy, especially at the start... Cause most adults are addicted in the brain to thinking sexual thoughts, and you have to break that, and kill off those connections in the brain, which can only be done through complete abstinence from any and all sexual thoughts... And, you may even be bombarded with more sexual thoughts than normal at first, when you first try to kill off those connections in the brain, cause starving them to death, (which is what must be done), anyways starving certain kinds of thoughts to death like if you were to go on a diet and fast from bad foods, that taste good...

Anyhow, like that, you may have more and be more strongly tempted to have even more and stronger thoughts about say, eating a gallon of ice cream, anyways, that temptation will be strong and come on stronger at say, the first week or two of the diet, but only at the beginning, it does get easier, in time, if you stay committed to abstaining, and in time, you won't have those strong cravings for ice cream, hardly at all anymore... It is the same with sexual stuff/thoughts...

You have to starve it to death, and not let it/them in from the outside, into your world... You have to kill that neural connection in the brain...

Pray about it also, but pray not to think about it at all, or for the strength to abstain and not let it be or come into your world anymore...

This is helping me with it... Hope it can help you as well...



The only problem I see with it, is that, it is a lot of "our own" doing...?

How much should be us, and how much God...?

Comments...?

God Bless!

 

[John Hyperspace]

Persistence of counter-thought would be my first method. If "lust" is your problem, start a continual thought pattern such as "women are ugly" and loop it. Women would loop "men are ugly". Repeat until women are now ugly in your mind.

That would be for single people. For married people? Good luck since your relationship is basically built on lust.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Cause most adults are addicted in the brain to thinking sexual thoughts,

Getting old has helped me avoid such thoughts.

 

[HenryM]

What's the best way to combat/approach/deal with/come against and overcome "sin" and darkness? (dark, evil, wicked, or wrong thoughts or thinking) Wrong behaviors/attitudes/perceptions/outlooks...

What's the best way to deal with these things, and how does a person truly change (them)...? Is it by our effort and work or something "we" do, or God? Or, a combination of both? And, how does that work...?

I posted this to someone who was having lustful thoughts, and how we need to just stop wrong thinking before it becomes sin (before it becomes wrong behavior/attitudes/outlooks, or actions) (before it becomes sin)...

I posted this, but it can apply to any kind of wrong thoughts or behavior/actions/attitudes...



I still struggle sometimes, but a lot less than I use to, as I am trying to stay chaste and pure sexually as well... Short and simple...? Just "don't think about it at all" cast those thoughts down and away...

Helps not to be idle a lot, find hobbies for your spare time, keep busy, do other things (like hobbies or activities) that you enjoy in your spare time... Don't let or be around outside influences that would spurn sexual thoughts, like people who like to talk about it, or especially your media that you watch or are exposed to... Eliminate it from your world...

Think back to when you were a child and didn't have any sexual thoughts, if that helps, and try to remember and go back to that again, but as a child of God now...

It won't be easy, especially at the start... Cause most adults are addicted in the brain to thinking sexual thoughts, and you have to break that, and kill off those connections in the brain, which can only be done through complete abstinence from any and all sexual thoughts... And, you may even be bombarded with more sexual thoughts than normal at first, when you first try to kill off those connections in the brain, cause starving them to death, (which is what must be done), anyways starving certain kinds of thoughts to death like if you were to go on a diet and fast from bad foods, that taste good...

Anyhow, like that, you may have more and be more strongly tempted to have even more and stronger thoughts about say, eating a gallon of ice cream, anyways, that temptation will be strong and come on stronger at say, the first week or two of the diet, but only at the beginning, it does get easier, in time, if you stay committed to abstaining, and in time, you won't have those strong cravings for ice cream, hardly at all anymore... It is the same with sexual stuff/thoughts...

You have to starve it to death, and not let it/them in from the outside, into your world... You have to kill that neural connection in the brain...

Pray about it also, but pray not to think about it at all, or for the strength to abstain and not let it be or come into your world anymore...

This is helping me with it... Hope it can help you as well...



The only problem I see with it, is that, it is a lot of "our own" doing...?

How much should be us, and how much God...?

Comments...?

God Bless!

Your quest is admirable. Not that I see sexuallity as bad, but you have your reasons and it's admirable for you to do it, since it's probably not easy.

Main principle I know of for breaking a pattern of thought or behaviour is to replace it with one that's more powerful in positive way.

What John H. suggested works, and I would probably do something like that myself in this situation, I just wouldn't rely on it as primary source, since it's negative-based, and those are not as long term as one would need it. You might even want to push it futher. Not only to reframe other sex as ugly, but to go into visualizing some deseases, skin conditions, some really gross and ugly stuff, to put you off. Go find some pictures online. I think if I saw those, that alone would be it for me for some time It might sound radical, but the principle is that either if you go negative or positive, go as far off as you can.

And, along negative disasociation I would look for positive replacement that's so much more engaging and powerful that it overshadows the thing I am trying to break from.

I don't know what that might be for you, but search for some breakthrough, a new mission in your life. Go big.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Pretty much like you said, I do the same. If I am tired I can let my mind slip. So now I keep myself busy or try to sleep if tired. Thus I avoid the issues 99% of the time.

 

[Neogaia777]

Your quest is admirable. Not that I see sexuallity as bad, but you have your reasons and it's admirable for you to do it, since it's probably not easy.

Main principle I know of for breaking a pattern of thought or behaviour is to replace it with one that's more powerful in positive way.

What John H. suggested works, and I would probably do something like that myself in this situation, I just wouldn't rely on it as primary source, since it's negative-based, and those are not as long term as one would need it. You might even want to push it futher. Not only to reframe other sex as ugly, but to go into visualizing some deseases, skin conditions, some really gross and ugly stuff, to put you off. Go find some pictures online. I think if I saw those, that alone would be it for me for some time It might sound radical, but the principle is that either if you go negative or positive, go as far off as you can.

And, along negative disasociation I would look for positive replacement that's so much more engaging and powerful that it overshadows the thing I am trying to break from.

I don't know what that might be for you, but search for some breakthrough, a new mission in your life. Go big.

As far as lust goes, I see it as very disrespectful and not loving at all, you are reducing that "person" fellow human being, who is and should be very valuable to you, as they are to God, anyway, you treating them and reducing them to like an object or a thing... Which is very unbecoming...

Which you, which I, should not want to do at all... this more positive realization/thought, has helped me with lust...

I don't want to disrespect or devalue anyone else in any way, which is helping with other sins against people, so that I see, or try to see, like God does, them as precious and valuable to me...

God Bless!

 

[stuart lawrence]

Paul tells us how to overcome sin:

For sin shall no longer be your master, for you are not under law but under grace
Rom6:14

 

[Wordkeeper]

What's the best way to combat/approach/deal with/come against and overcome "sin" and darkness? (dark, evil, wicked, or wrong thoughts or thinking) Wrong behaviors/attitudes/perceptions/outlooks...

What's the best way to deal with these things, and how does a person truly change (them)...? Is it by our effort and work or something "we" do, or God? Or, a combination of both? And, how does that work...?

I posted this to someone who was having lustful thoughts, and how we need to just stop wrong thinking before it becomes sin (before it becomes wrong behavior/attitudes/outlooks, or actions) (before it becomes sin)...

I posted this, but it can apply to any kind of wrong thoughts or behavior/actions/attitudes...



I still struggle sometimes, but a lot less than I use to, as I am trying to stay chaste and pure sexually as well... Short and simple...? Just "don't think about it at all" cast those thoughts down and away...

Helps not to be idle a lot, find hobbies for your spare time, keep busy, do other things (like hobbies or activities) that you enjoy in your spare time... Don't let or be around outside influences that would spurn sexual thoughts, like people who like to talk about it, or especially your media that you watch or are exposed to... Eliminate it from your world...

Think back to when you were a child and didn't have any sexual thoughts, if that helps, and try to remember and go back to that again, but as a child of God now...

It won't be easy, especially at the start... Cause most adults are addicted in the brain to thinking sexual thoughts, and you have to break that, and kill off those connections in the brain, which can only be done through complete abstinence from any and all sexual thoughts... And, you may even be bombarded with more sexual thoughts than normal at first, when you first try to kill off those connections in the brain, cause starving them to death, (which is what must be done), anyways starving certain kinds of thoughts to death like if you were to go on a diet and fast from bad foods, that taste good...

Anyhow, like that, you may have more and be more strongly tempted to have even more and stronger thoughts about say, eating a gallon of ice cream, anyways, that temptation will be strong and come on stronger at say, the first week or two of the diet, but only at the beginning, it does get easier, in time, if you stay committed to abstaining, and in time, you won't have those strong cravings for ice cream, hardly at all anymore... It is the same with sexual stuff/thoughts...

You have to starve it to death, and not let it/them in from the outside, into your world... You have to kill that neural connection in the brain...

Pray about it also, but pray not to think about it at all, or for the strength to abstain and not let it be or come into your world anymore...

This is helping me with it... Hope it can help you as well...



The only problem I see with it, is that, it is a lot of "our own" doing...?

How much should be us, and how much God...?

Comments...?

God Bless!

Darn you ask such good questions! So good to be so needy!

First of all you have to pray and God will teach you what the situation is. You can't solve problems till you know the factors involved.

Nature is arranged so that life is balanced, tuned to sustain a particular state. Plants take in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. Animals take that oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. That's balance.

Animals eat fruit and pass out waste. Plants use waste and pass out fruit. That's another balance.

So life is perpetuated. Continued. However, unlike plants, animals have comparatively shorter life cycles. So they must be stimulated to reproduce strong and healthy progeny .

Imagine a chimpanzee tribe in the wild. Through tests of strength, an alpha male emerges. He gets first dibs at the best food, sex and sleeping places. Now Nature's goal is not only to continue growing more and more plants and animals, but also the strongest and healthiest. She has already ensured the strongest male has the most resources and opportunities. So she may do more stuff to ensure her goals are met.

The male will be stimulated with thoughts both awake and dreaming, of delicious food and attractive females. This will push the alpha to more eating and mating. Of course all this indulgence will also ensure that he quickly wears out, causing him to be dethroned by the next grown up candidate for the alpha role, thus preventing his worn out genes from being passed on. Even if not mature successor emerges, old age slows down the drives, again preventing passing on of weak genes.

So you see, nature is causing all those 'sinful' desires in strong and healthy adults.

Some people will have more stimulus some less. For some, food will be a stronger drive. With others, the priority is wealth.

Understanding this will turn your whole view of sin upside down. Paul learned this. He realized it was not him who was sinning, but nature which was the source of his carnal drives.

Romans 7
17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

The Holy Spirit removed him of the guilt of having the desire. But the result of having the desires still remained. Resisting them caused 'burning', conflict. Also living according to those fleshly drives was death, and living according to the spirit was life, ability to bear spiritual fruit.

So what do we do to neutralize those desires?

Well, we found out what the situation was by praying, now we can try to solve it by praying too. Paul asked for these messengers from Satan to be taken away. But God allowed them to stay, saying that eternal life, the ability to bear fruit, would remain with him , because all it needed was grace and grace was obtained by being loyal to God, by fighting against those messengers of Satan. Phew! Untangle that!

However Paul also said that it was okay to get married, so that we could have an outlet for our passion:

1 Corinthians 7
9But ifhey cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better tomarry
than to burn with passion.

Summary

We should realise that God gave us natural bodies. Some get real doozies!

Those who get a live one(!), can pray for it to be subdued.

If they are not answered, they can think of marriage.

But what enables us to live fruitful lives is God's grace, obtained by being faithful.

 

[Neogaia777]

Darn you ask such good questions! So good to be so needy!

First of all you have to pray and God will teach you what the situation is. You can't solve problems till you know the factors involved.

Nature is arranged so that life is balanced, tuned to sustain a particular state. Plants take in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. Animals take that oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. That's balance.

Animals eat fruit and pass out waste. Plants use waste and pass out fruit. That's another balance.

So life is perpetuated. Continued. However, unlike plants, animals have comparatively shorter life cycles. So they must be stimulated to reproduce strong and healthy progeny .

Imagine a chimpanzee tribe in the wild. Through tests of strength, an alpha male emerges. He gets first dibs at the best food, sex and sleeping places. Now Nature's goal is not only to continue growing more and more plants and animals, but also the strongest and healthiest. She has already ensured the strongest male has the most resources and opportunities. So she may do more stuff to ensure her goals are met.

The male will be stimulated with thoughts both awake and dreaming, of delicious food and attractive females. This will push the alpha to more eating and mating. Of course all this indulgence will also ensure that he quickly wears out, causing him to be dethroned by the next grown up candidate for the alpha role, thus preventing his worn out genes from being passed on. Even if not mature successor emerges, old age slows down the drives, again preventing passing on of weak genes.

So you see, nature is causing all those 'sinful' desires in strong and healthy adults.

Some people will have more stimulus some less. For some, food will be a stronger drive. With others, the priority is wealth.

Understanding this will turn your whole view of sin upside down. Paul learned this. He realized it was not him who was sinning, but nature which was the source of his carnal drives.

Romans 7
17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

The Holy Spirit removed him of the guilt of having the desire. But the result of having the desires still remained. Resisting them caused 'burning', conflict. Also living according to those fleshly drives was death, and living according to the spirit was life, ability to bear spiritual fruit.

So what do we do to neutralize those desires?

Well, we found out what the situation was by praying, now we can try to solve it by praying too. Paul asked for these messengers from Satan to be taken away. But God allowed them to stay, saying that eternal life, the ability to bear fruit, would remain with him , because all it needed was grace and grace was obtained by being loyal to God, by fighting against those messengers of Satan. Phew! Untangle that!

However Paul also said that it was okay to get married, so that we could have an outlet for our passion:

1 Corinthians 7
9But ifhey cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better tomarry
than to burn with passion.

Summary

We should realise that God gave us natural bodies. Some get real doozies!

Those who get a live one(!), can pray for it to be subdued.

If they are not answered, they can think of marriage.

But what enables us to live fruitful lives is God's grace, obtained by being faithful.

Is there that kind of natural cycle with "spiritual" things desires, as found with the fleshly in nature...?

Was Paul's thorn left their to make him better, stronger, more effective?

John said he must decrease, so the new spiritual alpha male could increase...

God Bless!

 

[Wordkeeper]

Is there that kind of natural cycle with "spiritual" things desires, as found with the fleshly in nature...?

Was Paul's thorn left their to make him better, stronger, more effective?

John said he must decrease, so the new spiritual alpha male could increase...

God Bless!

There's no automatic spiritual state. That's why Paul said IF you live according to the flesh, you will not bear fruit, but IF you put to death the deeds of the body through the Holy Spirit, you WILL live, WILL bear fruit. So choose.

Paul's thorn in the flesh was left to remind him that it was more important to find favour with God (by accepting what God had decided) than to be perfect, because sometimes perfection can become an idol! It's more important to please God than to succeed in perfecting ourselves, when we tend to become proud of our accomplishments/performance.

It's true that John was doing symbolically what we should do spiritually: lose our life, so that we may gain it...

God bless.

 

[Neogaia777]

There's no automatic spiritual state. That's why Paul said IF you live according to the flesh, you will not bear fruit, but IF you put to death the deeds of the body through the Holy Spirit, you WILL live, WILL bear fruit. So choose.

Paul's thorn in the flesh was left to remind him that it was more important to find favour with God (by accepting what God had decided) than to be perfect, because sometimes perfection can become an idol! It's more important to please God than to succeed in perfecting ourselves, when we tend to become proud of our accomplishments/performance.

Yes, therein lies the danger, oftentimes trading rather obvious sins, for much more subtle, much less obvious ones, like the Pharisees, that oftentimes has to be pointed out by someone very directly before we can see it...

But, sin is costing us all so very much... It will destroy us all if we can't find a way to do something about it collectively...

It's true that John was doing symbolically what we should do spiritually: lose our life, so that we may gain it...

God bless.

Or, passing the torch, so to speak...

Thanks for your replies,

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

When you think on Jesus and God and God's things/stuff does it do something to or for your sin or sinful desires...?

 

[Goatee]

Lust...........extremely hard to hide from. devil loves to throw them in the mind!

 

[stuart lawrence]

Lust...........extremely hard to hide from. devil loves to throw them in the mind!

A nightmare for pentecostals and Catholics!

 

[Wordkeeper]

When you think on Jesus and God and God's things/stuff does it do something to or for your sin or sinful desires...?

Philippians 4
4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

[Neogaia777]

When you think on Jesus and God and God's things/stuff does it do something to or for your sin or sinful desires...?

Philippians 4
4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

To be 100% honest, there was a time, and every once in a while still is, times when it made things worse, rather than better, due to fear though... I am now less afraid, and magnify his Love greater than the fear which is helping/changing it, so that it helps most of the time now...

God Bless!

 

[stuart lawrence]

The penalty of sin brings great fear of sin, and fear of sin brings much allurement to sin

 

[Neogaia777]

The penalty of sin brings great fear of sin, and fear of sin brings much allurement to sin

Cryptic, but I get it...

Thank God, Jesus took the penalty...

God Bless!

 

[Shempster]

In my life, it all changed after I had a really awesome self-deliverance experience.
I was a typical Christian for 25 years. Constantly falling down and getting back up. Repenting. falling. Repenting. Reading self-help books and all.
Immediately following that, the temptations became few and mostly easy to ignore. The occurences of falling down are spread apart and I have ample time to reflect on what really made me fall again. Time after time, it turns out to be the same thing with the same fix. Deliverance.

 

[HenryM]

I don't want to disrespect or devalue anyone else in any way, which is helping with other sins against people, so that I see, or try to see, like God does, them as precious and valuable to me...

Sexuality is not lust. It's one of the forms of expression and connection.

When you eat food you are not voracious.

You can have sexual connection with full respect and love, of course.