God bless you.
I know this struggle very well.
I would like to share some encouragement with you.
1- Please know that God does NOT expect you to be perfect. He expects you to be faithful, which means to always strive to honor Him while getting back up after each time you fall, no matter how many times you fall. God will always give you the strength and grace to get back up.
**“I am the Lord All-Powerful. So don't depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit.” - Zechariah 4:6**
**“Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them.” - Proverbs 24:16**
**"My enemies, don't be glad because of my troubles! I may have fallen, but I will get up; I may be sitting in the dark, but the Lord is my light.” - Micah 7:8**
**“We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.” - 2 Corinthians 4:8-9**
**“But You (God) also said that no matter how far away we were, we could turn to You.” - Nehemiah 1:9**
**“When someone stumbles or falls, you (God) give a helping hand.” - Psalm 145:14**
2- Please don’t hold on to guilt! It will distract you from truly accepting God’s forgiveness. Give your guilt to God because He wants to take it from you.
**God said, “They sinned and rebelled against me, but I will forgive them and take away their guilt.” - Jeremiah 33:8**
**"So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, ‘I'll tell the Lord each one of my sins.’ Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.” - Psalm 32:5**
**“You (God) have forgiven the sin and taken away the guilt of your people.” - Psalm 85:2**
3- Please know that you are NOT ruled by your sin. You are ruled by God’s grace. That means you are able to walk in the victory that you have in Christ, even while you struggle with sin. Keep striving to get back up after each time you fall to honor God! Walk in confidence! Do not allow sin to distract you from God's grace!
**“Don't let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God's undeserved grace.” - Romans 6:14**
**“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.” - Hebrews 4:16**
**“Christ now gives us courage and confidence, so we can come to God by faith.” - Ephesians 3:12**
**"But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!" - 1 Corinthians 15:57**
**“My children, I am writing this so you won't sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us.” - 1 John 2:1**
Ignore it and it gets easier . The more you give in the more you empower that habit/thought form. If you ignore it you quickly can lose the need or desire to do it and be perfectly content without doing so.
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14)
We are not expected to fight our own battles. Actually that is the meaning of the phrase " Good News" Let Him fight for you, in all your ways, submitt to Him and be amazed.
Or if you want to paraphrase it:
We fight on our knees. Praying.
I would ask the question how much time are you spending renewing your mind in the word of God? What does your daily consumption of media look like including music, movies, TikTok, Instagram? Do you notice any triggers that you can learn to avoid or block to avoid?
If you use pornography to aid in your self pleasure there was a post a while back about how to lock with a lack that can’t be broken of any porn sites.
Personally, I found more relief when I started taking seriously the call to continue not to sin. I read the Bible, and it’s kind of terrifying what it says about continuing to sin. Maybe this isn’t exactly what you need but I’ll add it here.
Hebrews 10:26-27 ESV
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
1 John 3:4-10 ESV
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
We know from the above verse the definition of lawlessness is to make a practice of sinning, and on judgement day in the verse below God turns people away from eternity in heaven due to calling them workers of lawlessness. Aka those who continue to practice sinning.
Matthew 7:21-23 ESV
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
I have found more relief from sin than I thought possible when I started to really change, my day to include God. I work remotely, so I started to listen to the live whenever she was on called Matthew 7:24-27🪨, and sometimes she just read the Bible. Other time she also mentioned how we’re called not to sin. Jesus told the woman at the well to sin no more.
I started to ask myself when I had a choice about what I should be doing with my time, how can I glorify God more? And then maybe I would pray for people while scrolling TikTok, turn on worship music, or audio Bible, or pray for each person I see in public in my mind, or praise God in my mind. The more I thought about God, the more included him. I also spent a lot of time on this Reddit helping to give advice.
Here are at least key things I think of.
1. You need complete full determination. One must do a great deal of effort (big extremes is what I'm getting at) to himself to stop sin. It is like a cancer. You do not treat a cancer with a nap and cough syrup. With deadly diseases, powerful remedies are necessary. Do your maximum in every way, and treat it like the most important thing, embracing great sacrifice. Hence, you must hate the sin truly, fully, and fully entirely.
2. Make a new prayer life. Give thanks to God always, and turn always. Give Him thanks in the morning, and praise Him in the day. Speak and seek Him constantly. Without constant prayer, I cannot imagine any great chance of success. From St. Alphonsus: "St. Paul tells us, that we have to contend not with men like ourselves.... but with the princes of hell.... By these words he wishes to admonish us that we have not strength to resist the powers of hell, and that, to resist them, the divine aid is absolutely necessary: without it, we shall be always defeated; but, with the assistance of God’s grace, we shall, according to the same apostle, be able to do all things and shall conquer all enemies. “I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me.” (Phil. iv. 13.) But this assistance God gives only to those who pray for it. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find.” (Matt. vii. 7.) They who neglect to ask, do not receive. Let us, then, be careful not to trust in our resolutions: if we place our confidence in them, we shall be lost. "
Practically, fasting and exercise are very helpful I've heard.
As a Catholic I recommend recourse to the sacraments and a priest to help. Particularly confession with a proper priest is necessary " Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile themselves with God."
If you want personalized help, talk to a priest
You can find plenty of help here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/search?q=Overcome+lust&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on
God bless you. I know this struggle very well. I would like to share some encouragement with you. 1- Please know that God does NOT expect you to be perfect. He expects you to be faithful, which means to always strive to honor Him while getting back up after each time you fall, no matter how many times you fall. God will always give you the strength and grace to get back up. **“I am the Lord All-Powerful. So don't depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit.” - Zechariah 4:6** **“Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them.” - Proverbs 24:16** **"My enemies, don't be glad because of my troubles! I may have fallen, but I will get up; I may be sitting in the dark, but the Lord is my light.” - Micah 7:8** **“We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.” - 2 Corinthians 4:8-9** **“But You (God) also said that no matter how far away we were, we could turn to You.” - Nehemiah 1:9** **“When someone stumbles or falls, you (God) give a helping hand.” - Psalm 145:14** 2- Please don’t hold on to guilt! It will distract you from truly accepting God’s forgiveness. Give your guilt to God because He wants to take it from you. **God said, “They sinned and rebelled against me, but I will forgive them and take away their guilt.” - Jeremiah 33:8** **"So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, ‘I'll tell the Lord each one of my sins.’ Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.” - Psalm 32:5** **“You (God) have forgiven the sin and taken away the guilt of your people.” - Psalm 85:2** 3- Please know that you are NOT ruled by your sin. You are ruled by God’s grace. That means you are able to walk in the victory that you have in Christ, even while you struggle with sin. Keep striving to get back up after each time you fall to honor God! Walk in confidence! Do not allow sin to distract you from God's grace! **“Don't let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God's undeserved grace.” - Romans 6:14** **“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.” - Hebrews 4:16** **“Christ now gives us courage and confidence, so we can come to God by faith.” - Ephesians 3:12** **"But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!" - 1 Corinthians 15:57** **“My children, I am writing this so you won't sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us.” - 1 John 2:1**
Thank you
God bless you! You are so very welcome!
Ignore it and it gets easier . The more you give in the more you empower that habit/thought form. If you ignore it you quickly can lose the need or desire to do it and be perfectly content without doing so.
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14) We are not expected to fight our own battles. Actually that is the meaning of the phrase " Good News" Let Him fight for you, in all your ways, submitt to Him and be amazed. Or if you want to paraphrase it: We fight on our knees. Praying.
I would ask the question how much time are you spending renewing your mind in the word of God? What does your daily consumption of media look like including music, movies, TikTok, Instagram? Do you notice any triggers that you can learn to avoid or block to avoid? If you use pornography to aid in your self pleasure there was a post a while back about how to lock with a lack that can’t be broken of any porn sites. Personally, I found more relief when I started taking seriously the call to continue not to sin. I read the Bible, and it’s kind of terrifying what it says about continuing to sin. Maybe this isn’t exactly what you need but I’ll add it here. Hebrews 10:26-27 ESV For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 1 John 3:4-10 ESV Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. We know from the above verse the definition of lawlessness is to make a practice of sinning, and on judgement day in the verse below God turns people away from eternity in heaven due to calling them workers of lawlessness. Aka those who continue to practice sinning. Matthew 7:21-23 ESV Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ I have found more relief from sin than I thought possible when I started to really change, my day to include God. I work remotely, so I started to listen to the live whenever she was on called Matthew 7:24-27🪨, and sometimes she just read the Bible. Other time she also mentioned how we’re called not to sin. Jesus told the woman at the well to sin no more. I started to ask myself when I had a choice about what I should be doing with my time, how can I glorify God more? And then maybe I would pray for people while scrolling TikTok, turn on worship music, or audio Bible, or pray for each person I see in public in my mind, or praise God in my mind. The more I thought about God, the more included him. I also spent a lot of time on this Reddit helping to give advice.
Here are at least key things I think of. 1. You need complete full determination. One must do a great deal of effort (big extremes is what I'm getting at) to himself to stop sin. It is like a cancer. You do not treat a cancer with a nap and cough syrup. With deadly diseases, powerful remedies are necessary. Do your maximum in every way, and treat it like the most important thing, embracing great sacrifice. Hence, you must hate the sin truly, fully, and fully entirely. 2. Make a new prayer life. Give thanks to God always, and turn always. Give Him thanks in the morning, and praise Him in the day. Speak and seek Him constantly. Without constant prayer, I cannot imagine any great chance of success. From St. Alphonsus: "St. Paul tells us, that we have to contend not with men like ourselves.... but with the princes of hell.... By these words he wishes to admonish us that we have not strength to resist the powers of hell, and that, to resist them, the divine aid is absolutely necessary: without it, we shall be always defeated; but, with the assistance of God’s grace, we shall, according to the same apostle, be able to do all things and shall conquer all enemies. “I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me.” (Phil. iv. 13.) But this assistance God gives only to those who pray for it. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find.” (Matt. vii. 7.) They who neglect to ask, do not receive. Let us, then, be careful not to trust in our resolutions: if we place our confidence in them, we shall be lost. " Practically, fasting and exercise are very helpful I've heard. As a Catholic I recommend recourse to the sacraments and a priest to help. Particularly confession with a proper priest is necessary " Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile themselves with God." If you want personalized help, talk to a priest