[To a friend who had sent me excerpts of a book she's reading]
I have to tell you….after reading the texts you sent yesterday, I was reminded…last night before bed, I indulged in fantasy. A gaggle of girls far too young for a relationship, but high school aged and physically grown, came in to the store a third time (I recognized them and the mom of a couple of them) yesterday. It strikes me that a worldly man—yea, I may even be tempted to, in weaker moments—may respond to their vibrant youthfulness and beauty by giving himself over to mentally desecrating them in his mind, to try to gain satisfaction and/or put the thought of them out of his consciousness. But I have been amazed to realize that God has even been reforming my thoughts to the level of interfering with my daydreams about lovely women—I’ve never been tempted toward younger ones, but recently I’ve found myself imagining scenarios wherein which I take advantage of a vulnerable young girl willing to be influenced by me by preaching the Gospel to them and by my abstinent example showing and leading them the way to true love. As a mentor.
And so, I found myself, before sleep fell over me, having a clean fantasy, where my inner desire to bring joy to a woman’s heart was consummated not by intercourse but by loving them with my words as I told them the Truth. It felt really good. I had another experience like this a week or so ago when I imagined a conversation between me and my wife in bed. I was actually brought to tears that time.
Praise God that He is working on me, to overcome my sexual depravity in my mind and replace it with pure and good thoughts, day by day. Few things can give better encouragement than noticeable change in one’s own character, from more worldly to more holy. Is God too lofty to concern Himself with sexual thoughts? Nay, He is near to our hearts and can impress us with how uncharacteristically pure our thoughts about a lovely member of the opposite sex can be, if only we meditate on His Word and Gospel so that it becomes a fixture in our minds that affects every aspect of our lives.
It feels so good to honor someone in your heart rather than using them.
Thanks, God.
~ Rak Chazak
I have to tell you….after reading the texts you sent yesterday, I was reminded…last night before bed, I indulged in fantasy. A gaggle of girls far too young for a relationship, but high school aged and physically grown, came in to the store a third time (I recognized them and the mom of a couple of them) yesterday. It strikes me that a worldly man—yea, I may even be tempted to, in weaker moments—may respond to their vibrant youthfulness and beauty by giving himself over to mentally desecrating them in his mind, to try to gain satisfaction and/or put the thought of them out of his consciousness. But I have been amazed to realize that God has even been reforming my thoughts to the level of interfering with my daydreams about lovely women—I’ve never been tempted toward younger ones, but recently I’ve found myself imagining scenarios wherein which I take advantage of a vulnerable young girl willing to be influenced by me by preaching the Gospel to them and by my abstinent example showing and leading them the way to true love. As a mentor.
And so, I found myself, before sleep fell over me, having a clean fantasy, where my inner desire to bring joy to a woman’s heart was consummated not by intercourse but by loving them with my words as I told them the Truth. It felt really good. I had another experience like this a week or so ago when I imagined a conversation between me and my wife in bed. I was actually brought to tears that time.
Praise God that He is working on me, to overcome my sexual depravity in my mind and replace it with pure and good thoughts, day by day. Few things can give better encouragement than noticeable change in one’s own character, from more worldly to more holy. Is God too lofty to concern Himself with sexual thoughts? Nay, He is near to our hearts and can impress us with how uncharacteristically pure our thoughts about a lovely member of the opposite sex can be, if only we meditate on His Word and Gospel so that it becomes a fixture in our minds that affects every aspect of our lives.
It feels so good to honor someone in your heart rather than using them.
Thanks, God.
~ Rak Chazak
No comments:
Post a Comment