today i will blog about something that is some what had to deal wit.
The Bible is explicit about sexual sin (e.g., Lev. 18) but as I
mentioned in my last blog, it doesn’t mention masturbation. This is
important because many Christians struggling with lust focus too much on
not masturbating rather than on whether they allow lust in their lives.
This is a colossal mistake because if you rid yourself of lust, then
masturbation will cease to be a problem.
Hard to do? Yes. But doable nonetheless. Too many Christians don’t realize how often they lust
every single day and
it hardly bothers them until they click on hardcore porn or masturbate
and then they feel like what the cow stepped on. Instead, Christians
need to alarm about absolutely, positively every little bit of lust—and
worry less about masturbation which the Bible doesn’t even mention. So
I’ll say it again, get control of lust and masturbation won’t be an
issue. If your lusts are out of control, good luck with trying to stop
masturbating.
So let’s talk about controlling lust.
One of the two most important things you can do to get control of
lust is to avoid anything that causes/encourages you to lust. I have
found, however, that some people will say that they can watch a certain
amount of sensuality, sexuality, or nudity and it doesn’t encourage them
to lust. But, the trouble is that the reason these people say it
doesn’t stumble them is they see so much extremely lustful material that
they hardly realize that these little bits fuel their lack of
self-control. Look, if you sometimes indulge sexual fantasies and view
porn, then those little bits that you don’t think matter, matter.
Martin Luther once said, “I can’t stop the birds from flying over
head but I can keep them from making a nest in my hair.” He’s right on
both counts. In this sex-charged world we will encounter lustful images
but we don’t need to let them roost. For example, if a man lusts over a
Wonderbra ad (twigs and mud); then lusts after some low-cut blouse—more
twigs, more mud; then ogles the
Sports Illustrated swimsuit
edition—more twigs, more mud; then watches a movie “but you only see her
breasts for a few seconds!”—more twigs, more mud; then add in a little
fantasy—more twigs, more mud, and so on and on and on, etcetera,
ad infinitum:
pretty soon you could land a 747 on his head. It’s no wonder he finds
himself unable to resist hard-core porn or fantasy incited masturbation!
By the way, this isn’t just a male problem: a survey revealed that 34
percent of female readers of a Christian magazine admitted to seeking
porn online. Dho!
So, then, don’t read, watch, or listen to anything that encourages or
causes lust. Nothing. If you can’t keep your eyes off jiggling bikinis,
don’t go to the beach! If you lust after an actor in your favorite TV
show—don’t watch it! Obviously this will result in a major lifestyle
change for many. Some might be thinking “Wow, that would mean I won’t be
able to do/see/hear a lot of things I enjoy.” True! But, this is what
it costs to be free from lust. For more on this see my blog:
“Lust: Are We Willing to Do what It Takes?”
More to follow.
Matthew 16:24: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Amen.
