Overcoming Lust...how?

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I just started fasting last week on Wednesday’s and fridays and I’ve found that fighting off the temptation of lust easier. So yea, it works! 😁
 
Absolutely!!! Great tips and good on ya for fighting those temptations.

I agree that they’ll never really go away, but hey those are the trials we go through. To carry out cross if you will.

I’ve been praying the rosary, reading the Bible, saying the Hail Mary in times of temptations, fasting, considering how is feel after failing (which is usually remorse and regret), and frequent confessions.

I had one priest tell me to be cautious about abusing the sacrament because I said my last confession was a week ago. He seemed kinda concerned that it had been so recent. However I can see his point how some would abuse it by thinking ‘oh hey, I can sin now and just do confession. It’s all good.’ Obviously there’s no merit in that way of thinking and it’s a grave way to approach the blessed sacrament.

I’ve had to take steps to remove certain things in my life too. Especially on instagram. I used to follow models, porn stars, and various inappropriate pages. Now I have a lot of Catholic pages on there (including Catholic Answers) that show saints, history, church teachings etc. occasionally an old page will pop up as I scroll and I just hit that unfollow button (it feels like a bandaid needing to be ripped off. Just gotta do it!) and then I feel better because I know I’m doing better.

It’s great to hear your story and I hope and pray you stay strong to the end. Persevere!

God bless.
 
Here is a summary of the advice given by moralists:
how to preserve Purity

a) For the natural helps
Code: 
    a. Leak of opportunities

    b. Vigilance

    c. Humility

    d. Mortification (especially fasting)

    e. job
b) For the supernatural helps
Code: 
       a. Pray

       b. Confession

       c. Frequent Communion

       d. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

       e. Thought of God and last ends
In my particular case, for natural helps, only the leak of opportunities and humility acts often help me. Curiously, fasting has never prevented me from having thoughts of impurities. As for the supernatural means, the thought of the love of God and the meditation on the last ends are particularly very effective for me, and constitute my main weapons to fight against lust.
As for the frequent communion, it does not really seem to help me in my fight against the passions, maybe its help is mysterious, I don’t know …
 
You can’t really overcome lust for good. These sorts of sins are quite situational. As in, you can overcome lust in one situation but that doesn’t guarantee that you will never experience the temptation again. I say this because I feel people who assume otherwise tend to feel despair after a while because they honestly expect that they won’t ever feel the strong temptations to fall again.

I can’t give much spiritual advice because the Lord knows I need help in that area, but I can give you basic advice based on psychology.

Replace/redirect your thoughts. This obviously takes practice and you can try practicing self control in other areas of your life. Eg checking your phone or something. Practicing self control in general will help. Inhibiting your thoughts/desires is a cognitive skill which you can practice so don’t be too hard on yourself.

Basically whenever you feel the urge to do something, redirect it with another thought. Prayers can be a way to do it. For me it’s easier to literally say (in my mind) ‘nope not today’ and put on some music or say an informal prayer.

You can also punish yourself, although I’m not too sure about how effective it would be if it’s self inflicted. When you sin, cut out something you like (e.g. Sweet drinks or internet access/etc) until you go to confession. If you manage to last a week, reward yourself. This is extremely basic advice but this is something most clinics like to use when treating someone with compulsions, like when anorexics feel the need to overexercise.

I don’t know what sins you commit specifically, but if it’s porn, I recommend you watching Matt Fradd’s talks on pornography. He’s a catholic speaker but he shares secular facts on how porn is bad and how it harms you and even the porn stars. It’s harder to desire watching porn when you’re aware of the things that go on behind the scenes.
 
Turn to Our Lady; pray the Rosary, the Ave Maria, the Memorare. The evil one can’t stand her.
 
Can I first say that sins of the flesh does not necessarily mean lust, the flesh is the whole body and any sin in that body is sin of the flesh!
Glory be to God that you have been given the grace to see you need to change and this is dieing to the flesh, so good news God is working in you and will continue at your pace, if you want to step up that pace and overcome sin quicker then your Blessed Mother Mary will aid you and you will be giving glory to God when you try to break from sin. So lust is your opportunity to give glory to God.
Every time you ask God to help you are glorifying him and he is pouring out grace and mercy on you and when you do over come you will move to your next sin and die to that also this is how saints are made.
 
Theo2 said:
Total fasting is not for teens. Just give up sweets and salty food
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what do you call “total fast”? I think that adolescence is the period when one is physically strongest, so the teen is physically better able to withstand the fast than an adult
 
I used to struggle with temptations. I fell into temptations too often. Then I learnt we need to be in union with Jesus to fight it. I started praying daily and Jesus spoke to me through the Holy Scripture. I will share it with you.
The passage Jesus gave me was Mathew Chapter 4. Pray to Holy Spirit and read the passage a few times and try to meditate it.
God bless you.
 
The church does not agree. Fasting, giving up food, is not for growing youth. A total fast, a black fast, is something like only bread and water.
 
it depends on how old is adolescence. A person who is still growing I always call him a big kid.
Fasting must be done with moderation regardless of age so as not to affect health.
And can you give me a reference from the magisterium that says teens do not have to fast?
 
Mboo said:
40.png
Reuben_J:
I think get married
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marriage is not a cure for lust! in fact, doing sex to satisfy fantasies is always a sin even in marriage …
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Maybe. I thought that was obvious. It was just that I do not have any sure answer to the question. Marraige might help or it might not. To some people obviously it is not.

To the OP, just have faith that nothing is impossible with God, if our hearts are willing to change.
 
A good devotion to St Jesus.

We need to hate our sins. Humble yourself, and continue asking Him for help to come into your heart. Don’t make any excuses to do wrong. Love Jesus above every Saint. Know that His grace is at work in you. Don’t count the days from your last mistakes. Look to Him.
 
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I do not remember reading that teenagers are exempt from fasting. Fasting is a spiritual remedy; every reasonable person is in principle not exempt. we just have to do it carefully so as not to damage our health
 
Knight said:
Absolutely!!! Great tips and good on ya for fighting those temptations.

I agree that they’ll never really go away, but hey those are the trials we go through. To carry out cross if you will.

I’ve been praying the rosary, reading the Bible, saying the Hail Mary in times of temptations, fasting, considering how is feel after failing (which is usually remorse and regret), and frequent confessions.

I had one priest tell me to be cautious about abusing the sacrament because I said my last confession was a week ago. He seemed kinda concerned that it had been so recent. However I can see his point how some would abuse it by thinking ‘oh hey, I can sin now and just do confession. It’s all good.’ Obviously there’s no merit in that way of thinking and it’s a grave way to approach the blessed sacrament.

I’ve had to take steps to remove certain things in my life too. Especially on instagram. I used to follow models, porn stars, and various inappropriate pages. Now I have a lot of Catholic pages on there (including Catholic Answers) that show saints, history, church teachings etc. occasionally an old page will pop up as I scroll and I just hit that unfollow button (it feels like a bandaid needing to be ripped off. Just gotta do it!) and then I feel better because I know I’m doing better.

It’s great to hear your story and I hope and pray you stay strong to the end. Persevere!

God bless.
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Over the course of my life, I have also used confession for cathartic purposes. This should not be the primary focus of confession.
The sacrament might make us feel at peace, but it should also prepare us for further battle, because that battle is always on the horizon.

At the end of the day, I had to let go of my desire to feel good. The Christian struggle does not always feel good. Tolerance for suffering is a key element in battling lust addiction.
(A good place to begin is to thank God for trials. God allows trials so that we might become saints. No one became a saint by just gliding into heaven, unproven. )

Patience is: enduring the gap between holiness and who we really are.
Be patient, it is a long battle my friend.
 
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The following worked for me:
  1. Say Hail Mary everytime you sense a temptation or even close to be tempted
  2. Pray the Holy Rosary daily or as much as you would like in a day
  3. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet
  4. Frequent receiving of Sacrament of Reconciliation (I started weekly confession) and the Holy Eucharist
  5. Persistent and consistent prayer
  6. Trust, hope and faith in God that you will be victorious (overcoming sexual sin is a process)
  7. Keep your mind and thoughts busy
  8. Be patient with yourself
It’s not a step to follow but I do them almost everyday except for the confession and receiving the Holy Eucharist which I receive weekly.

God bless your journey!
 
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Sometimes wearing pants or jeans have a way of putting pressure on body parts that lead to stimulation, even if unwanted. Women are not immune to these sensations, which makes me wonder how they can stand wearing jeans, especially the tight kind. I was reading a fashion article about choice of jeans. Even the article mentioned that the side benefits of wearing jeans can be a “delightful surprise”. Of course the article went on to explain that.
 
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