So many times when I am counseling men, I hear these words "I just wish God would take this away from me". Whenever I hear that from a man who is struggling with lust, sexual impurity, or sexually addictive behaviors, I have to stop them and ask, "What is it you are asking God to remove"? Often we want God to just zap the struggle out of us, miraculously "remove all our shortcomings", take it way. I have found that the healing is in winning the battle over lust. Walking the journey out with others who can help you along the way.
The Message version of James 5:16 says "Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. ". This says to me that part of the healing journey is walking this out with others and learning how to manage our temptation, lust and sin.
We were created to be sexual beings. God crafted this amazing gift of sexuality into each of us. We were created to be aroused by the sexuality around us. It is right and normal that we are "turned on" by the media and how much sexuality is in our culture today. We find our bodies and minds responding in a normal healthy way to the sexuality in our culture today. However, we are called to renew our minds. Romans 12:2 In this act of renewing our minds we are choosing to focus on healthy, Godly and relationship building things rather than t
he temptations that are around every corner.
So give yourself a break, acknowledge the temptation is there, acknowledge that you are normal and that the goal is to be successful in navigating this beautiful gift of sexuality and learn to manage it in a healthy marriage relationship. It's about learning to avoid the temptations, relationally confessing when the temptation is nearby, and choosing to connect sexually in a marriage relationship rather than false intimacy.
