Coming to Terms...

[rtodd5011]

with the truth that I have same sex issues going on in my mind, and they have been there since I was 12 years old. I am 51, and have attempted to stuff / hide this crap in my mind all these year has taken a big toil on my mental health..I have to deal with these same sex fantasy and thoughts. I have done all the resisting I know to do, but the fact is there it is still there lodged in my mind, and I cannot seem to get right of it. Does anyone else do this and what do you do that helps you? I have suffered mentally in silence for many years while trying to live a normal life. I have schizoaffective disorder, and I believe it is one of the roots of this horred disease...

 

[phydaux]

<Staff Edit> My wife is a licensed mental health counselor, so I have some idea of just how difficult managing <Staff Edit> Mental Illness really is.

The good news is that, with God's help plus the help of people gifted by God, the symptoms of SPMI are manageable. Yes, I only said "manageable." I wish I could tell you "Pray this prayer and it will all go away." God could do that, it would be great if He did, but usually we discover that He has other plans for us.

Now, Same Sex Attraction is another issue. You didn't mention in your OP if you had been acting out recently on your SSA, even if it's "just" porn, fantasies, and masturbation. Have you had any recent acting out with others?

Again, the good news is that, with God's help, SSA can also be managed. We have His promise that He will never give us more than we can bear. That is to say, more than we can bear WITH His grace and assistance. Usually we discover that it all IS all more then we can hold up under in our own fleshly energy. He wants us to learn to rely on Him.

And that includes relying on his grace and forgiveness as well as the wisdom He has given to medical doctors and mental health counselors.

 

[Robin Shawn]

I have suffered similarly, and now I am totally delivered, 1 year, eight months, and 23 days. Being delivered is wonderful, so that I count and enjoy every day. What helped was understanding God's purpose for sex (to conceive life) and understanding that when I negated that purpose and used sex for my own selfish pleasure, that was the root of my problems. I sought God for a long time and He helped me understand and made it possible for me to be delivered. He will do the same for you if you seek Him and do your part of resisting. I found that resisting came easy when I understood.

 

[EagleWings02]

Okay, I notice that I am significantly younger than you but I have had same sex attractions since about the age of 5. I have learned to document my good days and notice what was different from the bad days. in basic, I have noticed that when I am truely worshiping the LORD, a LOT of stuff just doesnt even matter. The only part that sucks is when I am not worshiping God the way that I want that these things seem to arise but not always.