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[G. Driggs]

Hi Alex just wanted to add to all the other great responses. This is something I can relate to cause I've also struggled with this quit a bit.

Negative thinking can really mess you up, so try to think of all the good things God has done for you.

Just gonna make a few comments from your post.

 i'm still struggling like crazy and I feel like it's driving a HUGE WEDGE between me and our Lord.

Dont you believe it Alex. 

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

if i were GOd, i'd be pretty sick of me right about now.

Aren't you glad God is not a man? God is very patient with us, so try to be patient with God.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

So while He is patient with you take the opportunity to do the right thing, one day at a time.

2Pe 3:15  Also, regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.

I'm mad at paul for saying HE was the worst sinner because if he met me he might rethink that statement. I Mean paul didn't have to deal with easy access to pornography?! Sure.. he had raging hormones maybe at some point but i feel like it's far worse for me then it was for him -.-

Not to belittle your struggles, but I dont think you could hold a candle to Paul sins. And because Paul was truly the worst sinner ever, how much easier is it for God save you?

1Ti 1:16  But I obtained mercy for the reason that in me, as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might show forth and display all His perfect long-suffering and patience for an example to [encourage] those who would thereafter believe on Him for [the gaining of] eternal life.

Jas 5:7  Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
Jas 5:8  You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord's coming is near.

There's that patience thing again. 

Sincerely hope this helps and encourages you, cause your post and everyone else' has done the same for me. Thanks for posting it, that took a lot of guts young bro.

[arion]

Paul may indeed be the worst sinner from God's perspective...that I do not know.  However, I believe that each and every one of us need to see ourselves as the 'worst sinner' who has ever walked the earth.  It is part of the process of our house of sand falling.  When I consider the goodness of God towards me, all the opportunities he has given me and how often I have failed him it's hard for me not to see myself as the worst sinner who has ever drawn breath.

I have not physically murdered people like Saul did before his conversion but yet I have murdered them in my heart.  I have never committed the sin of physical rape but I have done so in my heart.  The new testament requirements so far exceed the old as the heavens are above the earth.  Under the law one could get away with all the private sins of the heart as only outward obedience was required.  Under the new testament if we even look at a woman to lust after her we've already committed adultery against her in our hearts.  So we've participated in our hearts with some of the most foul sins imaginable.

I can't help but to keep thinking about the audio that Ray did in Nashville 2005 called 'guilty of all'.  If anyone hasn't listened to it recently or has never listened to it I highly suggest it.  It helps us to see ourselves as we really are.

http://bible-truths.com/audio/N05%20Guilty_of_ALL.mp3

[wat]

You're not alone brother.  I believe I'm about the same age as you.

Maybe this will help a bit. 1 Pet. 5:5-11 (ASV).

for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;

7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you.

8 Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,

9 whom withstand stedfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world.

10 And the God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ, after that ye have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect, establish, strengthen you.

11 To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Perhaps we should stop trying so hard not to sin, we can't do, we'll never be able to do it by ourselves.

John 15:5 - I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing.

Let us cease our own works.

Heb 4:10 - For he that has entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. (KJ21)

Mat. 11:28-30
28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

[lauriellen]

1Co_6:12  All things are lawful to me, but not all things profit. All things are lawful to me, but I will not be ruled by any.
1Co_10:23  All things are lawful to me, but not all things profit. All things are lawful to me, but not all things build up.

"It is not sin, but the religious system that keeps your mind in bondage. Religion will tell you that to take a drink of alcohol or numerous other things are sin. As a new creation being you are free to do anything you want to do and God will not be displeased with you. It doesn’t matter what it is. It’s not going to change God’s mind towards you. It’s not going to change His heart towards you. It’s not going to change your ultimate destiny. You will continue to sow what you reap but that will not stop God."

Also a quote i LOVE....

i don't understand why we should feel ashamed or guilty or dirty for being the way God made and intended us to be.....If God only intended us to feel pleasure above the waist, why so much feeling below?...Its okay to rub your feet and feel pleasure, but not other areas?....feeling pleasure does not always include lust......its like trying to not breath, holding your breath and when you can no longer hold it, giving in and breathing and feeling like a guilty low down dirty dog......i don't think that is what God intended. just my thoughts.

[arion]

.Its okay to rub your feet and feel pleasure, but not other areas?....feeling pleasure does not always include lust.

It's not so much the act itself imo as it is the fantasies and things flooding through the mind that are being given free reign during the process of the act.  I have yet to rub my feet and be thinking about fornicating with another man's wife.

[Rob M]

So God gave men raging hormones, but if someone beautiful goes walking by us we are only to admire what's she wearing?? It's almost impossible to differentiate between physical attraction and lust.

[dave]

Friend. If in your heart, as you walk, with Christ in you the hope of glory, and you do not find in your walk that you are offending yourself or Him, then you don't have a problem.
But should the Spirit, that guided Him, sound a voice, a noise, in you that it is a weakness, then call on Him, JESUS... and the Devil will quit each and every time. The Devil must cease, there is no choice, there is no other option.
Whatever offence that the Devil should spring on you that detours your walk, the same healing, curing, mending will take place. When a believer yields and calls on HIM, the Lord WILL remove whatever stumbling block the Adversary sets before you. I'm 67 and His words to me when I bring any of my failings to Him in prayer, are two simple words, "I KNOW." And I cry and feel re-assured, refreshed, and if you will, re-charged!
HE is so GOOD!

[G. Driggs]

Paul may indeed be the worst sinner from God's perspective...that I do not know.  However, I believe that each and every one of us need to see ourselves as the 'worst sinner' who has ever walked the earth.  It is part of the process of our house of sand falling.  When I consider the goodness of God towards me, all the opportunities he has given me and how often I have failed him it's hard for me not to see myself as the worst sinner who has ever drawn breath.

I have not physically murdered people like Saul did before his conversion but yet I have murdered them in my heart.  I have never committed the sin of physical rape but I have done so in my heart.  The new testament requirements so far exceed the old as the heavens are above the earth.  Under the law one could get away with all the private sins of the heart as only outward obedience was required.  Under the new testament if we even look at a woman to lust after her we've already committed adultery against her in our hearts.  So we've participated in our hearts with some of the most foul sins imaginable.

I can't help but to keep thinking about the audio that Ray did in Nashville 2005 called 'guilty of all'.  If anyone hasn't listened to it recently or has never listened to it I highly suggest it.  It helps us to see ourselves as we really are.

http://bible-truths.com/audio/N05%20Guilty_of_ALL.mp3

You may be right about that. I've often thought of myself as the worst sinner ever, but I dont think that is the point. For sure Im no better than whoever the worst sinner in the world may be, cause I would do the same things if in their shoes. My main point was God's patients toward us and that no one is too sinful that He cannot save. No one is so sinful that He would get tired of them and give up.

Personally Im trying to think positive. I've beaten myself up too much and too long. Time to quit dwelling in the past and look ahead. There will prolly always be sin in my life but God willing it will get less and less till it no longer has dominion over me. I think one way to do that is to think positive, think of good things. Only because God caused me to.

Here a couple places Ray talked about Paul being the worst sinner ever and why.

http://www.bible-truths.com/lake3.html

Most people believe that when Paul said he was the "chief of sinners" he was just blowing hot air--trying to play super humble or something. That he was so spiritual that he equated persecution of the church with being the grossest sin of all time. Not so. God’s Holy Spirit did not inspire Paul to "blow hot air" to make himself look artificially humble! Paul (Saul before his conversion) really was THE WORST SINNER THAT HAS EVER LIVED IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD! (Including Hitler!)

There is a very important reason for understanding how gross a sinner Paul really was. There is a paramount reason why you will NEVER be able to out-sin Paul. NO ONE has ever been able to out-sin Paul. Men like Hitler and Hussein may even come close, but no one will ever hold that infamous distinction of being the "chief, preeminent, foremost sinner of all time" but the apostle Paul. Jesus Christ had to fill that position two thousand years ago for our understanding of upon whom the ends of the ages are come! Here’s the proof:

The phrase "beyond measure" in the KJV (Gal. 1:13) is translated from the Greek word hyperbole and has two primary usages:

    "TRANSCENDENT" as found in Scriptures such as II Cor. 4:17

    "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL [eonian] WEIGHT of glory."

    The Greek translated "exceeding" is huperbole, and means TRANSCENDENT. Transcendent describes something that is highest, incomparable, consummate, matchless, preeminent, sublime, perfect, unequaled, unparalleled, and unrivaled! In other words the highest possible degree. Nothing is higher than that which is huperbole -- TRANSCENDENT!

    "INORDINATE" as we read in Gal. 1:13,

    "For you hear of my behavior once, in Judaism, that I INORDINATELY persecuted the ecclesia [church] of God and ravaged it." (Concordant Literal New Testament).

    Inordinate describes something that is excessive, exorbitant, extravagant, unreasonable, and too much. Now here’s the kicker: "Inordinately" is translated from the SAME GREEK WORD huperbole which is also translated "transcendently"! (For more details on this see my paper entitled Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh Identified).

Here then is the Biblical truth of this matter. To the degree that "transcendently" describes the HEIGHT of God’s goodness and glory, so likewise does the word "inordinately" describe the HEIGHT of evil that Paul perpetrated on the Church of God. God’s transcendent (huperbole) goodness and glory are UNPARALLELED! Likewise, Paul’s inordinate (huperbole) slaughter (murders) and threatenings are also, UNPARALLELED! God’s Word does not say in vain that Paul was the CHIEF, FOREMOST, PREEMINENT (very, very WORST) of ALL SINNERS WHO HAVE EVER LIVED! He really WAS.

Jesus Christ chose Paul, the WORST, CHIEF, FOREMOST, PREEMINENT SINNER THAT EVER LIVED (huperbole), to be put on PUBLIC DISPLAY for the whole world to see Jesus Christ demonstrating ALL HIS PATIENCE, for a "PATTERN" that will be repeated over, and over, and over again billions and billions of times for all those that Christ will likewise bring to repentance at any second He so desires!!!
-------

Once again I encourage you Alex not to give up hope. These things take time and I doubt He is finished with you yet. Think of all the other ways He may have changed your life, and keep hoping and praying He will continue to do so.

[cjwood]

it came down to a matter of the heart for me.  the Spirit of God resides in the heart of the believer.  not the physical heart.  the mind of the heart.  and my heart's mind felt darkness.  for me, it was sin.  i know because my heart began to convict me.  alot.  put on the mind of Christ...the mind of His heart. 

but, it's all done in layers alex.  peeling away in increments.

claudia

[DougE6]

A lot of thoughtful and deeply personal revealings and advice.  I found much of it inspiring.

So I will give a little two cents, just to add to the mix. I have told God many times(in a desperate sort of way, not like I told Him, that if the next life judgments had a video recording of my sins in this area I would be too ashamed of myself to stand it. I was one that had a high sexual appetite and I why did I waste so much time and energy in masturbation and porn and such.

I told God with all contriteness and sincerity and pleading I did not want to stand before Him without victory over this, and my flesh. I am/was/will be hopefully to the end;...desperately hungry for ever increasing righteousness. Powerless I was and am to the flesh. No one needs to convince me of the power of the flesh.

No one needs to convince me that God wanted me to deeply learn of my human weakness and also to learn to hate hate! the sin, the weakness, the flesh in me. Ray has spoken of this in those emails published and quoted upstream. I felt his words were altogether true and captures what or part or some of the things that God wants us to learn in our struggles.

I thought, please God; I want victory over this before I am old. Now this thirst for victory in this area did not take place in my 20s or 30s(and I married in the 30s which helped)  just to put this in context, with the OP.  I did not think much of it when young. But later, I did. And I thought,  how much does it count if I am  victorious just because I no longer have testosterone coursing through my veins? This was my thought, as this continued, as I began to understand God's call for righteousness on me.  I wanted something to show/prove for my faith, in all areas.  These are the highly personal thoughts and prayers in my soul over a course of years.

i have no idea how valid that thought actually is; it's just that I wanted victory in the midst of the battle, not when the fight is no longer.

And even if he did not give me victory I understood much about the flesh and carnal appetite and myself; and it became at least one of the reasons I wanted and coveted a spiritual body free of the passions of the flesh which loves seeking gratification and selfish desires. It increased my desire to be DONE with the physical and hope and embrace the spiritual body which is given to those who love Him.

I can say that one day I noticed I did not have that lust. And then a week, and then a month. then it would return, but only briefly. Then it would be gone, almost like I was dead to it. And I did not miss it or want it back. There was a time that if this would of been gone I would of secretly wanted it back, I am sure, but now I do not.

Yet I do not consider myself victorious because I realize from past history that I am weak.  But; but, I can say there is a night and day difference. And I walk in this. And I do not want to ever go back, I want to have freedom, this freedom God has decided that I should be given.

I do not have personal experience to share with a person who is a young man in their 20s, or even 30s, because I did not wrestle or trouble me that much then. It just seemed natural to me. Even as I was a seeker of the things of God then, but God was not showing me how deeply I was enslaved then. He was teaching me to love Him and to learn of the scriptures and of the deeper truths, and then I married and had kids and learned many other lessons of the world.

I still believe that Paul's advice to marry helps. But it doesn't address the root, just takes the edge off. But marry someone you love, and find interesting, that helps too :-).

If God is impressing on you to gain victory in this area, don't quench that. Also do not lose heart when you fail many times. I can tell you that there will come a time if you thirst after righteousness that you will be filled. And this filling may take many forms in other areas before God gives you victory in this area. So keep heart and do not let this one area become to much of a barometer of your spiritual growth. Just keep growing in Him and for sure keep yourself clean from illicit sexual relations with real persons, because I think this area WILL be more damaging to you because it involves other people besides yourself.

may God give you His righteous heart. Blessed are those who seek after righteousness....

[lilitalienboi16]

You won't stop until you're truly ashamed of doing it. You say that you are, but you won't change until the guilt heavily outweighs the pleasure you receive from doing it. We don't stop any one particular sin until Jesus brings about a change of heart where our desire to please God is greater than fulfilling our flesh. Hang in there...focus on what you will be in time more so than where you are now, that's how God looks at us.



Hope this helps,

Marques

Hello marques,

I wanted to thank you for this post, it really hit home to me. What got me was seeing myself as who I will be. Who the man that God is turning me into and not let my carnal mind or even the enemy discourage me.

I also found it really helps at the end of the day, even if the Lord safeguards my heart and mind from giving into the pulls of the flesh on that specific day to confess my other sins. To realize that even though this sin is so gross to me, I commit many others daily. Mostly in my mind through thoughts I think that may not be Christ like. I found it really soothing to my soul to confess and admit that even if I didn't physically masturbate I had still betrayed myself through my thoughts of lusting after that pretty girl earlier in the day.

Its one thing to KNOW that looking at another girl with lust in your heart might was well be fornication and its another thing to REALIZE it.

I think I've taken a huge step forward in seeing Christ take his rightful place upon the throne in this temple of God's even if my steps may seem like baby steps. I feel like I'm moving forward again.

I might very well struggle with this all my life, though I would have it not be so, I am not God and I am indeed a beast, powerless to obey the commands of my Lord but I have hope and a new perspective in not getting stuck in the beast I am now but rather seeing the Son of God I want to be, seeing myself as the Father can see me. Wholly His.

There is a lot of other things I want to say, speciially on some of these personal testomies other than my own but I'm typing this from my phone so I'm going to cut my reply short here. I will get back again when I get some more time to you all.

Again thank you everyone, and thank you to those who shared your very personal struggles. You are in my prayers.

With love in Christ,

Alex

[musicman]

Ok seriously.  We eat when we are hungry.  If we don't eat one day the next we will need the food even more.  As we age, we find that we don't need to eat as much.  Is it really all about pleasure or is our survival the main part of the equation?  Isn't prostate cancer more likely when we do not clean ourselves out physically?  How long is a person going to go before they can no longer avoid this act?  Of course it depends on age and whether the person is sexually active. . . . with his wife, hopefully.  Young men are not able to overcome this unless they have a genetic condition preventing this need. Period!!  So, we have a certain amount of control over our thoughts, (with God's guidence).  But this need is going to have to be fullfilled.  Somehow.  But it cannot be met without lust.  Can't be done.  Is there such thing as purified lust?  I really don't know.   

[yello62]

Alex,

I am not sure that anything I say will provide comfort but, like many men, I too have struggled with that problem since I was quite young.  Before I even hit puberty I was looking at pictures of semi-clad women and fantasizing about their bodies.  When poppa placed me in the body of Christ at the age of 24, I received temporary freedom from the problem but it did not last all that long.  I can remember when I gave in the first time after not having done so for months, I was so overwhelmed with guilt, I nearly could not sit through a full church service.  I was a mess.  I just knew that I was done for and that I had let Christ and The Father down and I would be cast into the lake of fire and erased from the memory of all I know and love.  I prayed, I fasted, I begged The Father to rip this foul thing from my life.  Many of the things that others have said, I processed through my mind.  I asked The Father to take away my desire because it is better that I go without rather then not enter into the kingdom.

We know that sin is never the right thing to do.  It is death, plain and simple.  We should never get comfortable with the failure that are those things.  I will say though that throughout this entire process, The Father has been talking to me about mercy, grace, peace and compassion.  He has been talking to me about how the process begun at the foundation of the world will end with freedom from sin and death for all mankind.  He has been talking about the fact that when He placed me into the body of Christ and gave me His spirit, He sealed me and gauranteed completion of the work that He began through Christ, and He will not end that process until it is complete.  He has spoken righteousness into us.  He has spoken righteousness into us.  No one that is truly in this relationship with The Father through Jesus Christ will go on sinning forever, He won't let us, but that does not mean we will see victory over every single thing in this flesh.  Does that mean that we rejoice in our sins?  Paul speaks to that.  We rejoice in the knowledge that our relationship with The Father is not based on us, our actions or lack thereof but our freedom, our relationship, the blessings of life are ours because The Creator of all things has said it is so.  Christ is the evidence of that.

The Adversary uses our "issues" against us, tries to create doubt and anguish in our heart.  For years I have wrestled with that same nonsense but Poppa being Poppa has shown me through a relationship that I have been in things I was not able to grasp before.  He loves us, He has forgiven us, He will perfect us, He will raise us from the dead and we will dwell, we do now dwell in eternity.  Rejoice in the fact that this is not dependant on you or your efforts. 

As they say in the vernacular, Pop's got this, no doubt!

[lilitalienboi16]

So God gave men raging hormones, but if someone beautiful goes walking by us we are only to admire what's she wearing?? It's almost impossible to differentiate between physical attraction and lust.

I disagree Rob.

You can admire the beauty of many things in this creation without desiring to stick your "you know what" in them.

Perhaps a more relavent example;

If you have a teenage or young adult daughter or if a man does have a beautiful daughter, does he not recognize her beauty WITHOUT desiring her in bed? I think we can say many a fathers have had beautiful daughters and never desired them in any such manor yet still able to recognize their beauty. Though we all know the circumstances or have heard of them in the news were this infraction was made upon a daughter by her father.

I obviously do not have a daughter of my own so I suppose I can't be 100% certain of how a father would see her adult daughter once she is all grown in her beauty but I am assuming that he sees her through the eyes of love while recognizing her beauty and not through the eyes of lust.

So is it possible? Yes It is, it just takes a spiritual giant (and not one on his own accord) to be able to overcome the lust and pulls  of the flesh when it is sinful.

[lilitalienboi16]

Ok seriously.  We eat when we are hungry.  If we don't eat one day the next we will need the food even more.  As we age, we find that we don't need to eat as much.  Is it really all about pleasure or is our survival the main part of the equation?  Isn't prostate cancer more likely when we do not clean ourselves out physically?  How long is a person going to go before they can no longer avoid this act?  Of course it depends on age and whether the person is sexually active. . . . with his wife, hopefully.  Young men are not able to overcome this unless they have a genetic condition preventing this need. Period!!  So, we have a certain amount of control over our thoughts, (with God's guidence).  But this need is going to have to be fullfilled.  Somehow.  But it cannot be met without lust.  Can't be done.  Is there such thing as purified lust?  I really don't know.

I believe musicman, this is why a man marries. So that he may fulfill his physical needs without disregard of His Father's commandments.

I disagree with young men not being able to overcome this without a genetic condition and I wish I could prove it to you by saying I am one of those men but I cannot and not because I have a genetic condition but rather because I'm still fighting this battle. I can assure you though the desire is very strong in me to want to stop and I have faith in God, with His time, I will overcome this. Perhaps in my 30's so I can still qualify as having been young enough and not having a genetic disorder.

I agree that the act of masturbation or sexual intercourse cannot be fulfilled without lust but I don't think any of us would argue this. I believe though that we can stop lusting after another man's wife or lusting in our minds every time we see a beautiful girl or stop masturbating to porn by the grace of God. I believe that this outlet that we all need is meant to be fulfilled by a wife. In this case, sex with your wife to my understanding does not equate to breaking God's spiritual law because she is your wife.. so it's okay to desire her and lust after her otherwise how would you have sex? lol

So what I'm saying is God made a way out for our desires and needs, a way that in His eyes is just and lawful.

Now perhaps there is a man among us who would like to step up and say He has done these acts without lusting? And how did that turn out for you? lol........ i'm sure this would be a hilarious conversation if it ever followed.

[Dave in Tenn]

Alex, with respect, I might have had a bit more to share, but I don't want to engage you in a hilarious conversation.

     

[lilitalienboi16]

Alex, with respect, I might have had a bit more to share, but I don't want to engage you in a hilarious conversation.

   

O_O Please... feel free to entertain me! xD

[Dave in Tenn]

No.

But I'll ask you a question.  What if you had a son (or were asked by a single mother to talk to her son)...what would you say to him from your own experience?

 

[lilitalienboi16]

Hi Alex just wanted to add to all the other great responses. This is something I can relate to cause I've also struggled with this quit a bit.

Negative thinking can really mess you up, so try to think of all the good things God has done for you.

Just gonna make a few comments from your post.

 i'm still struggling like crazy and I feel like it's driving a HUGE WEDGE between me and our Lord.

Dont you believe it Alex. 

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

if i were GOd, i'd be pretty sick of me right about now.

Aren't you glad God is not a man? God is very patient with us, so try to be patient with God.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

So while He is patient with you take the opportunity to do the right thing, one day at a time.

2Pe 3:15  Also, regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.

I'm mad at paul for saying HE was the worst sinner because if he met me he might rethink that statement. I Mean paul didn't have to deal with easy access to pornography?! Sure.. he had raging hormones maybe at some point but i feel like it's far worse for me then it was for him -.-

Not to belittle your struggles, but I dont think you could hold a candle to Paul sins. And because Paul was truly the worst sinner ever, how much easier is it for God save you?

1Ti 1:16  But I obtained mercy for the reason that in me, as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might show forth and display all His perfect long-suffering and patience for an example to [encourage] those who would thereafter believe on Him for [the gaining of] eternal life.

Jas 5:7  Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
Jas 5:8  You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord's coming is near.

There's that patience thing again. 

Sincerely hope this helps and encourages you, cause your post and everyone else' has done the same for me. Thanks for posting it, that took a lot of guts young bro.

Hello G.

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed that verse in peter and it was exactly what I needed to hear at this time. Well the part about the "opportunity for salvation." I read your post a few days ago but I came back to it looking for some encouragement. It has helped me greatly.

No guts my friend, just the desire for people to see me for the imperfect human I am. I hate appearing as a hypocrite to those around me so I like to be honest about these things. I don't want to appear.

God bless,

Alex

[musicman]

How to be righteous with hormones:
This is a tough one and most would feel helpless but I have come up with a seven step. .. .excuse me, 12 step. . . . ahhh,?? let's just say that there may be thousands of steps when we are through.

Music Man's infinate step program to escape lust and self gratification. 

OK, #1 Get married to a sexually hungry (only for you of course) woman (and it goes both ways so women just substitute everything I say with the opposite sex).

Done!!

Oh, if you are too young to legally marry (or are frightened that you may not marry the right woman) then you better keep reading.

1.  Wake up every morning earlier than you want to so that you will feel tired and thinking more about sleep then lust.  (We all know what good nights of sleep do to our hormones).

2.  Before eating breakfast or even showering, do 100 jumping jacks.  This will take your mind off of lust.

3.  When going to school, wear dark shades so that you won't see all of the young girls wearing their skimpy tights that their parents tell them will make them popular.

4.  Watch your step because you almost ran into somebody because you can barely see.

5.  Go to first class and think about baseball, even during instruction because you probably won't be able to keep your thoughts pure with the way your hormones are racing.  Ask several times to use the bathroom so you can go do pushups and situps.

6.  Skip PE because that's where all of the girls wear those shorts and the sun will cause your shades to give you vision.

7.  Go to band rehearsal and stick your head inside tuba bell and tell friend to blast really loud to scramble your brain.  This adrenaline blast will get your mind off of lustful visions, . . . . for about 15 minutes. 

8.  Don't skip lunch because believe it or not, the food is so gross that even the cuttest model will seem sub par in the face of the rancid smell.

9.  Try to get through to end of school day without going insane.

10.  Go home and do not turn on TV.  The brain is too inactive when watching TV and that means something will have to replace the nothing.

11.  Try to do homework.

12.  When you can't, do some more exercise.

Then read some. ...oops gotta do more pushups.

Go to bed exhausted and wake up the same the next morning.

13.  Do all of this for an entire week

Week number 2

14.  Do everything from the previous week exactly the same,??  except take more exercise breaks because what worked the week prior, may just not work again.

15.  Drop band and join the football team, even if you weigh 110 pounds.

16.  Pain often works to eliminate lust.

17.  Talk tough to the biggest and meanest linemen.

18.  You will not feel lust. ..  until your wounds heal.

19.  You won't get into college because you were never able to study in highschool anyway.  And college is where you would have the biggest problem controlling your hormones anyway.

I hope this has been helpful.  Perhaps not.

OK youngons, let's get pure.