The Celibate Thread

[Paulie079]

I've thought about sex as being a gift before, but not sexuality itself as much. But I guess you could consider that a gift as you consider other parts of who you are a gift as well. There's nothing wrong with sexual urges or desires of course, but I do think it's wrong to allow lust to rule your heart and mind in the name of embracing your sexuality. I'm not accusing anyone of this, I'm just speaking generally. And while there are crazies on the internet who actually think that cutting out an eye or something will help, a lot of people don't take the passage that refers to that for what it really means--treating sin seriously and going to extra lengths to remove things from your life that tend to tempt you to sin, or in this case, lust. And from there, seeking God and allowing Him to change your heart and affections. I've experienced times in my life where my affections for God were such that I had no desire to lust because I knew it would adversely affect my relationship with Him.

Of course, I still fail with this, and so I confess it to God and sometimes to a close friend. I'm sure I will deal with the temptation to lust for the rest of my life. But if Christ is in the right place in my life, if I utilize prayer and Scripture, and I have people in my life who are willing to ask me hard questions and hold me accountable, I'll be setting myself up to put off lust in my life. None of this is easy, but it's worth it.

 

[ImperatorWall]

I've thought about sex as being a gift before, but not sexuality itself as much. But I guess you could consider that a gift as you consider other parts of who you are a gift as well. There's nothing wrong with sexual urges or desires of course, but I do think it's wrong to allow lust to rule your heart and mind in the name of embracing your sexuality. I'm not accusing anyone of this, I'm just speaking generally. And while there are crazies on the internet who actually think that cutting out an eye or something will help, a lot of people don't take the passage that refers to that for what it really means--treating sin seriously and going to extra lengths to remove things from your life that tend to tempt you to sin, or in this case, lust. And from there, seeking God and allowing Him to change your heart and affections. I've experienced times in my life where my affections for God were such that I had no desire to lust because I knew it would adversely affect my relationship with Him.

Of course, I still fail with this, and so I confess it to God and sometimes to a close friend. I'm sure I will deal with the temptation to lust for the rest of my life. But if Christ is in the right place in my life, if I utilize prayer and Scripture, and I have people in my life who are willing to ask me hard questions and hold me accountable, I'll be setting myself up to put off lust in my life. None of this is easy, but it's worth it.

I've never experienced that being close to God reduced my desire. I have no baseline, but I suspect my sex drive is quite high.

Control is achieved through absolute mental discipline and intense physical exercise. I don't think about women, ever, at all. It's a myth that guys think about sex X times a day. I don't think about it one time a month. This discipline is learned and practiced however, and was not easy to come by.

But I always know the temptation is there, if I slip for just a second it will reassert itself and it will take me months to get control of it again.

 

[Messy]

Nuns Celebrate Their Marriage to Jesus - Video - Oprah.com