Struggling with my thoughts

[samayirx]

I have a big time fighting sinful thoughts...my sinful thoughts lead me into things like masturbation and pornography........But now i have unbeleif thoughts.....how can i control my thoughts...please pray for me

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I have a big time fighting sinful thoughts...my sinful thoughts lead me into things like masturbation and pornography........But now i have unbeleif thoughts.....how can i control my thoughts...please pray for me

I am assuming that you have given your life to Christ and are a born again Christian. I base that assumption on the fact that your sinful thoughts are worrying you. This is a sign that you are born again, because there is a new nature in you warring against your old sinful nature. A person who is not born again would not be worrying about those thoughts at all. He certainly would not be confessing them to other Christians and asking for prayer to help overcome them.

The Bible says to confess our faults to one another and pray for one another. This is what you have done. This is a positive thing because you are using a Scriptural principle to get help with your personal war between the Spirit in you and your sinful nature.

The important thing is to maintain your faith in Christ. What the devil is trying to do is to get you so preoccupied with your sinful nature that you waver in your faith in Christ. Jesus dealt with your sin when His body was nailed to the Cross. Your sins are nailed there with Him. He was made sin for you so that you have become the righteousness of God in Christ. This means that Jesus has removed the guilt and punishment for your sins and has covered you with His righteousness.

No matter how many areas of sin still remain in you, God now looks upon you through the righteousness of Christ. You may see yourself as still being a sinner, but God sees you as completely cleansed and renewed in Christ. Your sinful nature does not upset God at all, because He knows that it has been totally dealt with.

So, your faith is in the righteousness of Christ, bought and paid for though the death of Jesus on the Cross for you.

If you base your faith on your ability to get victory over your sins, you are being self righteous, and this is a worse sin than what you are struggling with at present.

God has provided a weapon against the attacks on your faith through your sinful nature. 1 John = "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". So, how many times do we do that? Jesus said that we must forgive each other 70 times 7. This number stands for an infinite number. So, if we are expected to forgive our brother and sisters an infinite number of times when they sin against us, then God will do the same when we sin against Him.

Romans teaches us that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Walking after the flesh means to try and live according to the way we see ourselves - according to our five senses. Walking in the Spirit is maintaining faith in Christ and what He has done for us regardless of how we see ourselves.

Knowing that we have a sinful nature keeps us humble before God. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. We are, and will always be, debtors to the grace of God. Jesus was never angry at those who were very conscious of their own sinful nature. He was angry with those religious people who were self righteous and thought they had arrived.

It becomes a problem when a religious person (as contrasted to a Christian believer) gets the victory over most of their obvious sins and then thinks he or she has arrived, and then starts judging other people because they are not up to the same standards. Note what the Pharisee said when he and a publican were at prayer. He was telling God all his achievements, and then said, "I thank you that I am not like that publican over there." All the publican did in his prayer was to say, "God forgive me a sinner." Jesus said that the publican was the one whom God smiled at and gave grace to.

Now, having said that, males have a sex drive. It is activated by sight. This is the way the brains of males are wired. If we didn't have a sex drive then the human race would die out. There is a strong attractiveness for males about pornography and especially the naked female body. 90% of males would be aroused by the sight of a naked female, and the other 10% are gay. The gay ones would be aroused by the sight of a naked male body.

It is surprising to some that God is the one who designed sex, and He wired the male brain to be aroused by an attractive female. Paul says that we need to keep our bodies under subjection. We need the assistance of the Holy Spirit to ensure that our sex drive is kept under control and express in the right ways.

I am not supporting the use of pornography and masturbation as the way to achieve sexual gratification. There is a pleasure in it, otherwise there would be not the attractiveness that would cause 75% of all hits on the internet are on pornography sites. But the pleasure does not last, and there is a sense of being "ripped off" after a while, and a sense of emptiness. This is because there is no substitute for a good, healthy sexual relationship within marriage with the right partner. For most young men this may be the only way to achieve gratification in the long term.

One advisor has counselled controlled masturbation for young men to keep their desires under control - to prevent them going into unadvisable relationships and/or filling their mind with pornographic images from magazines or the internet. It is not the actual act of masturbation that is sinful, because it is a natural bodily function. But it is the viewing of the images and the sexual fantasies that go with it that causes young men to succumb to the temptation of lust. I am not advocating it for every situation, but if sexual desire is so strong that nothing else will control it, then it is better to relieve yourself than to allow lust to control your mind.

If you feel that you are under a bondage in this area and feel that you are under constant attack, it may be that you might need to find a trusted, non judgmental Christian with experience in deliverance to deal with any possible demonic activity that might need to be broken off you. I am not saying that you are demon possessed, because Christians cannot be possessed, but demons can attack parts of our minds and bodies to try and destroy our faith. It sounds that you might have difficulty doing self deliverance, and having someone to lay hands on you and free you from any demonic influence would be helpful.

I suggest that you build up a collection of good Christian books dealing with God's grace, and Spiritual Warfare, to give you a good sound foundation concerning how the grace of God works in you, and how to conduct a successful war against spiritual forces that attack all of us from time to time.

 

[hopeinGod]

I agree with Oscarr, sam. Sexual desire is very natural; but, just like the natural urge to eat can become a sinful obsession, so can one's sexual impulses, for masturbation can lead to more creative ways to stimulate and perform, which draws in various sinful materials like pornography.

I'd recommend you quit condemning yourself for having sexual thoughts. Condemnation will tell you that there is no way of escape for you and that you are a horrible person. Conviction, on the other hand, leads to repentance, cleansing and renewal. The Lord, after all, knows all about temptations, for He was tempted like we are, yet without sin

Much of what you are experiencing in its intensity may just be a phase. Science has determined a man's sexual peak hits at eighteen years of age, then it slowly, over the years, declines. Women, however, can remain at their peak for nearly their entire lives. So, thankfully, you will getting a break in time.

Dave

 

[samayirx]

thank you for your explanation...it makes perfect sense to me...thank god for you and dave....anyways, i also have a problem with lustful mental images....whenever i dont look at images of pornography i fall my masturbation by thought...what about that also? what about mental images?

 

[ByTheSpirit]

Hey sam, just a quick thought about your mental image problem that may help. I completely agree with the other recommendations, sex drive is natural and to condemn yourself for it is to say God made a mistake in creation, understand? Notice, the last item listed in Gal 5:23, the fruit of the Spirit is self-control, as you submit to the Holy Spirit who lives in each believer (John 14:23; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19) you will have the ability to overcome your mind. As far as the thoughts that currently exist and seem to plague you, this is something I do. I used to breathe porn. Was a way of life almost, but once I gave my life to Christ this scripture brought new life to that addiction, 2 Corinthians 10:5, take every thought captive by Jesus' name in order to make it obedient. =) when I start to get tempted to think on bad things, I simply bind that thought through Jesus. Something simple like, I take this thought captive in Jesus' name and cast it away from me. You would be amazed at the amazing power such words have. It has helped me tremendously. One last thing, that first initial thought is not sinful in itself, understand that. Its temptation and if temptation was sin, then Jesus would have sin, but we know Jesus didnt sin (2 Cor 5:21; Hebrews 4:15). Dont let Satan fool you to believe well you thought that sexual thought already so you have sinned, go ahead and finish your deed. Thats a lie straight from Satan, stand up and claim your victory over Him through Jesus. Read that passage in Hebrews sometime today and let it sink into you, Hebrews 4:15-16. Jesus was tempted in every way like you and I, but He overcame and because He overcame He has the authority to give us our victory. He knows your struggle and the amazing thing about God's love is, as has already been pointed out, it is boundless. Hold on to Christ friend, He is closer than you think. God bless you

 

[stormdancer0]

The best way to get rid of the thoughts and images in your head is to replace them. This is a primary reason why we memorize scripture. When you get a bad thought come up in your head, quote the scripture out loud, and keep doing it silently in your head. The bad thoughts will go away for a while. Over time, they will go away for good.

 

[alancrookham]

Saturate yourself in the Word of God, and worship. When the Israelite army went to war, they went out with praise, you should do the same. I recommend you get a good audio Bible and just immerse yourself in it. Then, be disciplined and just say "no". Remember that the devil can't make you do anything, you are making a decision to fall into sin. The temptation may be strong, but in the end it is nothing more than that, temptation. You can overcome it, the Word of God is your most powerful weapon against it.

 

[LetsBeReal]

When the enemy tempts me with unbelief, I remind myself that the only reason I feel that is because he is real. And if the enemy is real, I can only reason one thing: that GOD is real as well! And not only that, but He has all power and that I don't have to be subject to the oppression of the enemy.

Also, think about this: people of other religions don't have this worry. The Buddhist or the Muslim isn't constantly worrying that he is wrong. And if he/she is, it is because they are afraid of tradition, generally. In any case, they typically don't worry about that, because the enemy doesn't want them to change! The devil wants you to turn away from the truth and reject it for lies and deception. Why, that's the spirit of the antichrist!

Truly, we are nearing our Lord's return and the devil knows this. We are living in a time when spiritual confusion abounds, but there is a peace for those who stand on the word of God and trust in Him. And it's our job as spirit-filled Christians to decide this for ourselves and let the Devil know: "Satan, you can't have my joy! And you sho' (if you want to stank on it) can't have my peace! I am the temple of Holy Spirit; Christ dwells in me! I have the authority to speak over my life what God has ordained! So in the name of JESUS, I rebuke you from my mind, my thoughts, and my body!" And then, for good measure, you can speak in tongues a bit and send up a high praise! Hallelujah!

I pray that God keeps you and that you allow him to strengthen you.

 

[Laura Phillips]

have faith in the blood of jesus. He loves you!!!!! no matter what. just do what you can, that's all you can do.

 

[cluthc07]

What you can do is pray, pray and pray. Have faith in god that HE will set you free on his own timetable and not yours. I highly recommend to add a internet filter on your computer and to tell someone close to you about your struggles. Remember God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. That grace is the only thing that is keeping you alive right now so be thankful for life and know that the god who set me free will also do the work in you somehow, someway. I was once in your situation but now im, learning to live for Christ though the power of his Holy Spirit and not my own strength.

 

[gideons300]

thank you for your explanation...it makes perfect sense to me...thank god for you and dave....anyways, i also have a problem with lustful mental images....whenever i dont look at images of pornography i fall my masturbation by thought...what about that also? what about mental images?

Brother, I am going to take a slightly different approach here that I want you to pray about.

We assume that when we have thoughts that they are our thoughts. We take "ownership" of them and thus, when they are bad thoughts, we feel condemned and the condemnation itself leads us to fall into actual sin. It seperates us from fellowship with God and we are left dazed and confused and feeling unworthy.

But I firmly believe that thoughts like that are "satan's arrows" and he awaits us buying into ownership of them, like a fisherman luring his prey to bite. He then goes after his real goal, our faith in Christ and what He has accomplished in us. His method of attack? He becomes the accuser of the brethren. We then feel unworthy, unsaved, our faith becomes shaky, and how many thousands, nay, millions, have fallen prey to his devices.

But we are told that we are not to be ignorant of his devices, right? This is a perferct example.

So, what if..... what if those evil, selfish, or lustful thoughts do not originate with us at all? What if these are the arrows of the enemy, hoping to get us to "bite" and accept them as our own? If we take the bait, we then wonder "How can I be saved and think such trash?" and sooner or later, our faith in what God has accomplished in us is itself under attack and the spiritual danger escalates greatly.

This is our enemy's real goal. He cares not so much that we fall into evil desires That is child's play. He wants our faith in Christ. He wants to root out the words of God to us that have sprouted in our hearts. THAT is His goal. And if he cannot pry that faith out of our hearts, his secondary goal is to make sure we are ineffective witnesses of the delivering power of our God, so that we can help no one else. How can we witness confidently if we feel our hearts are polluted with evil thoughts, that a part of us is still in rebellion to Him? Thus, we are consumed by guilt and shame, so we think "Who am I to witness to another? I cannot even gain the victory myself!"

What is the answer? How do we overcome these attacks? God's word is clear. Our shield of faith must be up. Our sword must be polished and ready to cut down lies of the enemy. So what is our shield of faith that quenches these accusations? What is our sword that cuts our enemy to the core and makes him flee from us? It is TRUTH, truth God wants us to believe, so that we may be set free indeed. And what is the truth about who we are in this world? It is that:

We are new creatures in Christ. Our old man is dead, old things are passed away, and we are NOW light in the Lord.

If these words are true, then those thoughts cannot come from within us, from our own hearts... CANNOT. They are from our enemy and once we see that, we can fight him with the weapons of our warfare. Our weapons are not diligence or self control, especially in regards to our thoughts. So what weapons are we to use here?

When Jesus was tempted, satan whispered in His ear "IF you are the son of God.....". Do we see the real temptation Jesus was faced with was not power, or riches or lust, or drink? The real temptation was for Jesus to NOT believe what God had spoken to Him, that "THIS is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased".

Satan was after his trust in the Father's love for Him and how did our Lord respond? Each time the tempter came, Jesus responded with "It is written....."

As children of God, that is our way out of temptation as well. We must rely solely on what God has said about us, not on what we think or feel or how we have acted 10,000 straight times in the past. What has God said about us?

We are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God.

We can do all things thru Him who strengthens us.

We can bring every thought into subjection to Christ.

We owe the flesh NOTHING.

We are no longer in the flesh but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwells in us.

It is no longer I but Christ who now lives in me.

Old things are passed away, and all things have become new.

In every temptation, God will make a way of escape that we might be able to bear it.

It is this knowledge, faith in promises like this to us, that enables us to walk with our victory undisturbed, our peace secure, our eyes on Him and not on us at all.

How satan hates this! How he strives to make sure that these truths, spoken to us by our God who loves us, who cannot fail us, do not take root in our hearts. God has declares us righteous, whiter than snow, not because of how we have "performed" but because of one thing, the atoning death and ressurection of Jesus himself and our accepting His death as our own.

How easy it is for us to not feel like these are true for us, and our eyes are off of Christ and on our many failures instead. Let us accept the fact that without Him, we can do nothing. Yes, in ourselves we are weak, we are crummy, just earthen vessels, but we are earthen vessels filled with God!

Is it a bad thing to think lowly of ourselves? Not at all. Brokenness and humility is a must to any who will truly set his mind to fight off the enemy. But God does not want us to dwell there. He then wants to fill us with the knowledge of HIS truth, and what is that?

We are NOT who we used to be. We are NOT old
men trying to act new. We ARE new. And now we
have the mind of Christ. Amen!

And if this is true, (and it is!) what does that say about those thoughts that fly at us day and night? Are they ours? No, no longer. Does Christ think lustful, selfish, evil thoughts? God forbid!

Thus, we KNOW where the origin of those thoughts are. They are works of the enemy and God's will is for us to latch onto the truths of God's promises to us, and stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free.

May God bless you richly, and may faith arise in our hearts in a saviour who is an ever present help in time of need. Let us all hold fast to the truth and believe our weakness does not eliminate us from obtaining victory but rather makes us perfect candidates for liberty!

Blessings,

Gideon