Ashamed About Masturbation No More: The ABC's to Victory
I encourage you to meditate on Romans 6 in your Bible (The Christian's Magna Carta) and do as I did with this verse. It's really true. You don't have to be a slave of sin anymore. We are to walk in the "glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21).
B. Battle For the Mind Must Be Won.
"Larry, I desperately want to walk in purity and victory as a genuine believer, but I am regularly tempted with lustful fantasizing, viewing pornography, masturbation, sexual experimentation, even weird thoughts about being gay. I don't want to be a hypocrite and walk in sexual uncleanness, disobey God, lose out on abundant living, experience guilt, defeat and condemnation, even risk blowing my future – yet how do I break free?"
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When a person repents and genuinely trusts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; ceases striving to achieve victory over sin and instead stands in that victory as an accomplished reality; then, one must understand and win the battle for the mind!
Listen closely. Satan's cover is about to be blown! His chief objective is to keep people ensnared in habitual sin by controlling their minds. He knows that we are the product of our thinking and if he can manipulate our thought life, he can control our actions.
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, SO YOUR MINDS should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3 KJV).
The secret to dealing with our actions is to deal with our thoughts. That is where temptation begins – in the thought realm. If you deal with sin decisively in the arena of thoughts, the actions take care of themselves.
"Sow a thought-reap an act. Sow an act – reap a habit. Sow a habit – reap a lifestyle. Sow a lifestyle – reap a destiny."
A thought itself is not sin. It is simply temptation to sin. We can't help who knocks on the door of our mind, but we can decide whom we let in.
To deal with any sin, in this case sexual sin, we've got to take the Western approach: "Head it off at the pass!" An undisciplined thought life makes one a "sitting duck" for the enemy's "fiery darts" in spiritual warfare.
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:4-5 KJV).
A seductive and sensual thought comes subtly crawling across your mind. If you don't "bring it into the captivity of Christ" (rejecting it firmly as out of sync with God's Word), that thought can become a "stronghold" (hold onto you with a stronghold), and produce "imaginations" that slowly but surely lead you down the path to sinful action.
If you're a guy viewing and lusting after a provocatively undressed Miley Cyrus or Beyoncé gyrating sensually; then replay the tape in your mind while showering or lounging in bed; finally, you let your imagination run wild as your hands wander freely.... the archenemy of your soul will soon squeal gleefully and repeat once again, "Gotcha, sucker!" It's not rocket science.
The ladies can fall into this same pit through erotic fantasies stemming from romance novels or imaginary interludes with that "hot" dude or imaginary lover.
We simply can't sit back and be passive (Satan starts with "sat"), hoping this pattern will one day go away. "Sin lieth (Hebrew: "lurks like an animal") at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it" (Gen. 4:7).
So be vigilant in what you let in through the eye gate to your mind and "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles (Satan's favorite wile is "wait awhile") of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Eph. 6:10-13).
C. Commit to Flee Evil and Find Godly Companionship.
"Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts" (2Tim. 2:22 NLT).
If you're serious about being an "overcomer" (And I personally believe you are or you wouldn't still be reading this article!) and coming over the besetting sin of masturbation, then here is your closing challenge:
• Discontinue activities, behavior and relationships with compromising counterfeit "Christians" and anyone leading you astray.
• Do like Job who said, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?" (Job 31:1). "Look" in Hebrew means "to separate mentally", so no more undressing with your eyes or separating mentally the clothes from another's body!
• Find a same-sex accountability partner for both prayer and mutual support in your pursuit of a victorious Christian life.
• Fight temptation the same way Jesus did by wielding the "sword of the spirit which is the Word of God" (Eph. 6:17). In the wilderness when He was tempted He declared, "It is written..." three times to thwart the enemy's attacks.
• In the morning when you may be most vulnerable, get up and get going! Don't "slo mo" getting out of bed, showering and getting dressed to launch into your day.
• Finally, cultivate the Presence of God and an atmosphere of intimacy with your heavenly Bridegroom. Surround yourself with praise and worship music and let the Holy Spirit stay close to you.
Here's a closing thought from my friend Bert Farias who also communicated with me on this sensitive subject.
"As a man, what has helped me to keep masturbation in check over the years and not indulge my body in it has been to have a positive motivation incentive. Instead of thinking of masturbation as unlawful, or the illicit sexual fantasies that accompany it as forbidden by a God whom you may start to view as a killjoy or a hard task master, ask yourself this question: 'Are a few moments of illicit sexual fantasies worth short-circuiting the sweet intimacy of the Presence of the Lord in your life?' This perspective will give you a healthy and positive incentive for overcoming pornography and sexual fantasies that fuel you to masturbate. Is it worth the guilt and condemnation you will carry afterwards? This is the wisdom that I imparted to my own teenage son."
"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57).
