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JamesR
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« on: January 13, 2013, 05:44:51 PM » |
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Well, for about a month now I've decided to take it much more seriously in regards to giving up satisfying my "carnal passions" through pornography and excessive masturbation. I've gone to Confession for it twice within the past month and have really cut down--as difficult as it is. I just ask that all of you will pray that I can keep it up--because every day opposed to getting easier, it feels like it only gets harder, and oftentimes I will find myself having mood swings and despairing--feeling depressed and miserable, contemplating death, horrified by the fact that I will have to keep this up for the remainder of my life etc. I'm finally bearing my Cross and I hate it. Please pray for me that I can get through all of this and resist the temptation, and especially get through the "withdrawal" symptoms that are driving me mad.
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"'Blessed are the peacemakers' For those are peacemakers in themselves who, in conquering and subjecting to reason all the motions of their souls and having their carnal desires tamed, have become in themselves a Kingdom of God."-St. Augustine of Hippo
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Anastasia1
Born into pahklava
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« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2013, 08:16:54 PM » |
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Lord have mercy.
P.S. I'm proud of you for doing this. It will get easier over time.
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« Last Edit: January 13, 2013, 08:17:33 PM by Anastasia1 »
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2 Cor. 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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peacenprayer
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« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2013, 08:42:27 PM » |
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Lord, have mercy!
Pray for me as well, bud.
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Maximum Bob
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« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2013, 12:18:21 AM » |
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Lord have mercy on JamesR and peacenprayer.
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Prov. 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Psalm 37:23 The Lord guides a man safely in the way he should go.
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SolEX01
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« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2013, 02:48:15 AM » |
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Lord have mercy.
If you're having mood swings due to racing thoughts pertaining to your carnal desires, you can always seek help.
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JamesR
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« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2013, 04:55:26 AM » |
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If you're having mood swings due to racing thoughts pertaining to your carnal desires, you can always seek help. I don't know how I could do that without embarassing myself or crossing the child-parent line. "Hey mom, dad, I kinda need some help and/or medical attention because I'm having severe mood swings due to giving up masturbation and carnal desires due to my new religion that you never really approved of." It just seems very odd to me. |
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"'Blessed are the peacemakers' For those are peacemakers in themselves who, in conquering and subjecting to reason all the motions of their souls and having their carnal desires tamed, have become in themselves a Kingdom of God."-St. Augustine of Hippo
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Hiwot
Christ is Risen!
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Job 19:25-27
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« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2013, 11:13:29 AM » |
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Lord have mercy!
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To God be the Glory in all things! Amen!
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Anastasia1
Born into pahklava
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Faith: Oriental Orthodox
Jurisdiction: Occasionally traveling, Armenian.
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« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2013, 03:09:22 AM » |
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If you're having mood swings due to racing thoughts pertaining to your carnal desires, you can always seek help. I don't know how I could do that without embarassing myself or crossing the child-parent line. "Hey mom, dad, I kinda need some help and/or medical attention because I'm having severe mood swings due to giving up masturbation and carnal desires due to my new religion that you never really approved of." It just seems very odd to me. I don't know if high schools have school counselors that you can talk to? Sometimes parents accept the generalized answer that touches on something discussed rather than needing all of the details. |
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2 Cor. 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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mabsoota
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Kyrie eleison
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« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2013, 12:45:19 PM » |
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i would worry that the school counsellor would recommend 'relieving the desires' by doing 'what comes naturally'.
most secular people seem to blindly follow freud's ideas on sexuality. freud was probably sexually abused as a child, so i can't imagine he had a healthy approach to the subject.
but all Christian churches are supposed not to allow porn, so maybe you might get more good advice from your parents than you think. check what their views are first before coming out with your problem.
may God guide you.
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stavros_388
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« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2013, 01:30:54 PM » |
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It will get easier over time. +1 Lord have mercy. |
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"Our mind is pure and simple, so that when it is stripped of every alien thought, it enters the pure, simple, Divine light and becomes quite encompassed and hidden therein, and can no more meet there anything but the light in which it is." -- St Simeon the New Theologian
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Sophie
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« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2013, 10:25:53 AM » |
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Lord have mercy on James.
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"Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land!" (Priestmonk Christodoulos Aggeloglou, Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain Mount Athos, Greece, 1998,pp. 29-30, 48)
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Symeon77
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'with fear and trembling work out your salvation.'
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« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2013, 12:31:39 PM » |
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James-
May God continue to bless you to struggle manfully!
I can't find the saying at the moment (perhaps it was Abba Macarius?) so I will have to extemporize. One of the Fathers likened the passions to a garment: when it is shut up in a drawer and not exposed to light and air, mold will set in and it will rot away. Or like a scorpion, when full of vitality and free to roam wherever it will, is harmful but when sealed in a jar and deprived of food will weaken and die. In like manner the passions, when shut up in the heart and not given the aid of our will and activity, will in time, weaken and be rendered manageable.
So proceed with this remembrance: when you are finally able to cast this habit aside, abstinence will become easier. As long as you indulge it, you will give it strength and have to struggle.
This is not meant as condemnation, just propaedutic, FWIW.
I will pray for you.
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« Last Edit: February 08, 2013, 12:32:55 PM by Symeon77 »
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Where Christianity disappears, greed, envy, and lust invent a thousand ideologies to justify themselves.~ Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Abba Anthony said, "A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, 'You are mad, you are not like us.'"
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Punch
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« Reply #12 on: February 08, 2013, 05:04:56 PM » |
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Wouldn't it be better if we prayed that James can't keep it up?
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yeshuaisiam
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The best things in life are not things.
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« Reply #13 on: February 09, 2013, 07:41:38 PM » |
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Well, for about a month now I've decided to take it much more seriously in regards to giving up satisfying my "carnal passions" through pornography and excessive masturbation. I've gone to Confession for it twice within the past month and have really cut down--as difficult as it is. I just ask that all of you will pray that I can keep it up--because every day opposed to getting easier, it feels like it only gets harder, and oftentimes I will find myself having mood swings and despairing--feeling depressed and miserable, contemplating death, horrified by the fact that I will have to keep this up for the remainder of my life etc. I'm finally bearing my Cross and I hate it. Please pray for me that I can get through all of this and resist the temptation, and especially get through the "withdrawal" symptoms that are driving me mad.
Lord, please be with James in his difficult times, and give him the strength to bear the cross. James, beat this brother! You can do it! Radical amputation brother - pluck out porn. Many people who are addicted to porn state that the withdraws are tougher than getting off Heroine. (not kidding). This is a growing problem, you are not alone. I know you've complained of this issue many times. Be strong. Be very strong. Remember the story about the Samaritan woman at the well. She continually went back and back, and her thirst was never quenched. This was symbolic of her husbands, and that she kept getting new ones. Over and over she went to other men, and her sin was never satisfied. Christ offers us the "living water". Drink from him, and you'll never get thirsty again. God bless, and may the Lord be with you in this struggle and always. |
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Kerdy
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« Reply #14 on: February 09, 2013, 08:37:59 PM » |
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Lord, Have Mercy!
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"Let it be understood that those who are not found living as He taught are not Christian- even though they profess with the lips the teaching of Christ." - Justin Martyr ( c.160 )
"we recognize that the war is ultimately spiritual rather than carnal." - Gebre Menfes Kidus
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augustin717
Warned
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« Reply #15 on: February 09, 2013, 09:12:28 PM » |
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Wouldn't it be better if we prayed that James can't keep it up?
Lord have mercy |
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