So today I enjoyed seeing some fellow brothers and sisters in Christ make their public declaration of faith. It moved me incredibly. It amazes me how God can move so many of us to support our friends that we may only barely know and we still feel happy about it. At least that's how I felt. It happens rarely that I find tremendous joy in seeing other people receive Grace. Maybe it is a sign that God is maturing me and I am getting something accomplished each day I walk with Him.
I guess it was seeing other people getting baptized that reminded me of my own baptism that happened 4 years ago. (At least from my calculations at the moment at 2:30am. =P) One thing particularly reminded me of my baptism today. It was one of the brothers who confessed before the crowd that he struggled with pornography. When I heard that, I was almost
jumping for joy! Because I did the same thing when I got baptized and now I don't have to feel like I'm the only one that did that openly to a lot of people. It still gives me goosebumps to this day and I'm practically shaking as I'm typing this up. Since then I haven't really talked as openly as I wanted to about the issue. It is the most awkward and embarrassing issue but it is one of the many challenges facing our Church today. Often I feel if I speak too openly about it people will just feel uncomfortable around me. So I REALLY commend and praise any brother who can openly talk about it freely. I guess what I've found that I just have to reveal it at appropriate times as opposed to talking about it so openly. Although, with the way society is today. Maybe I do have to talk about it more openly.
Now I'm going to be brutally honest about my opinion here and I confess I do that for attention but this is important here for many people and I know I can build up the Church in some way by doing this. I was reading a
revelife post on masturbation the other day and it saddened me to hear that so many Christians still think that its okay to masturbate. Don't get me wrong, lust is the sin here and I know that masturbation is not specifically mentioned in the Bible.
But can you honestly say that a full-grown person who's gone through puberty can masturbate, clean up the mess afterwards, and not lust? Gimme a break! You can seriously make another brother/sister stumble if you subscribe to that opinion.
Ephesians 5:3 pretty much says is all:
"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people." - Ephesians 5:3
One of my ETS verses also sticks in my head on this topic which is
1 Corinthians 10:13. This was also the verse that my fellow brother in Christ used today in his testimony which me jump even more for joy inside:
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13
Now that I've gone fully exposed on this issue again, I want to take this opportunity to
praise the Lord for every single brother and sister who has gone through with this struggle and can openly share about it to others because I know from personal experience that it takes a lot courage to do so. To my other brothers and sisters, a little encouragement might help. Like I said already, the moment we talk about it, it all starts feeling incredibly awkward and we should be rejoicing that God is working through us.
With sexual images in the media today, we should never ever give up the fight against sexual immorality. So keep fighting on brothers and sisters.
Here are some good sites I'd recommend if any of you out there need help:
http://www.x3church.com (A Christian ministry dealing with sexual sin)
http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/course/ (A great free online course that has helped me personally)
Comments (3)
im sure there are plenty of people who did their baptism without sharing such a deep, personal testimony. so for sure, don't feel like you're the only one struggle with this temptation. :) reminds me of that verse mentioned on sunday, "be strong and courageous"... do not be fearful. forgot where it was from. but yes! thanks for sharing con! don't hesitate to share when you feel the Spirit prompting you to! haha. Romans 9:1!
this just reminds me how GREAT our God is. He gives us strength to help us in our weakness :). thanks for sharing, con! hold fast to His promises :)