A
ACanthony
Guest
Hello everyone. I am a 26 year old male. I am a devout Catholic and church goer. I recently turned to God about 2 years ago. For my whole life I was Catholic, just didn’t go to church. Also, from age 15 to 24 I was addicted to porn and masturbation. I have since gotten rid of the porn (it was a very tough habit to kick but through trusting in Christ I have the power to overcome it) however I still struggle with the masturbation. It went from being, however, a twice a day habit (when I was in the porn phase and before I trusted in God) to now a probably once a week thing (sometimes I can hold out 5 days sometimes 12 or 16 days but on average 7 days). I can overcome the masturbation through prayer, going to mass more often (like 3x a week) but in the end, I still find myself doing it about once a week. I have the power to overcome it completely but my level of faith is not there YET. However, I guess since I recognize the gravity of the sin and I really do try and NOT to do it, when I do masturbate, I get very guilty. I know I should immediately pray and I do that but at the end of the day I’m still left with guilt until about 2 days afterwards. But the moments after I do it, I do get guilty and it’s almost like an OCD thing. Like my conversations with people is affected and I even sometimes develop a twitch. I DO turn to God afterwards and I do pray for the lust to be fully removed but I think I am concentrating on the sin too much instead of being patient with myself. Is there anything else I can do (any tools, tips, or prayers) to rid myself of the guilt? I would hate to think I would always have this guilt until I give up the sin completely. Thank you and God Bless you always. -Anthony