That isn’t what I meant. I was speaking about the idea that with some sort of therapy one can become “normal” and totally get rid of SSA. Even (legitimate) supporters of such therapy only give a 30% success rate. At some point it may be better for a person to just accept that they will not be cured in that sense and decide how to live with it.True, some don’t, but what it comes down to is choice. You can choose to act out on your desires or not. Just like people who struggle with sexual addiction or lust can “choose” to act out or not. Each time they choose not to, they become stronger. SSA attractions are the same. The more we reach out to God and choose not to act out, the stronger we will become. That doesn’t mean we won’t sometimes have “falls”, but we learn from them and choose not to the next time, thus getting stronger with God’s grace.
There are many factors which go into overcoming, the least of which are learning to fill up on God, making healthy friendships and getting basic needs met so that we will not be left vulnerable.
Yes, I’ve heard about “reparative therapy” which I don’t agree with. However, regular Christian therapy to evaluate deep hurt inside of us and then get prayer and ways to deal with it is invaluable as I believe that is where same sex attraction originates from; how we’ve dealt with hurtful things in our lives, criticism, abuse, neglect, unforgiveness, etc, and have healing of these emotions can sometimes alleviate feelings of SSA.That isn’t what I meant. I was speaking about the idea that with some sort of therapy one can become “normal” and totally get rid of SSA. Even (legitimate) supporters of such therapy only give a 30% success rate. At some point it may be better for a person to just accept that they will not be cured in that sense and decide how to live with it.
A common human experience. At times we all feel it.Or in my case, unfurls like a roll of toilet paper thrown over a tree. Flops open like a dropped burrito. Lands on its side, like a buttered cat.
I doubt your saying it, affirmed by your next statement. God is not an escape from life, after we become a Christian there’s still the washing up.There are many factors which go into overcoming, the least of which are learning to fill up on God, making healthy friendships and getting basic needs met so that we will not be left vulnerable.
My initial “coming out” experience was okay, but I got enough mileage out of it and after a while the euphoria of being bathed in a new kind of acceptance wore off. Eventually I took a cold, hard look at the “community” I was declaring allegiance to and I realized I had made a mistake. Then the “community” began to turn its back on me.A common human experience.
Jesus lived his life like a military campaign - act, retreat, reflect/assess, act.My initial “coming out” experience was okay, but I got enough mileage out of it and after a while the euphoria of being bathed in a new kind of acceptance wore off. Eventually I took a cold, hard look at the “community” I was declaring allegiance to and I realized I had made a mistake. Then the “community” began to turn its back on me.
I have always agreed with Paul’s characterization of homosexuals. I got to see it up close and personal. Either Paul had keen insight into human nature or the Holy Spirit dictated those descriptions to him.
I don’t understand the question.What are you telling yourself about yourself? This is the important bit.
Who do you say you are?I don’t understand the question.
Um … hi, I’m Apollos…?Who do you say you are?
What is it to be “Appollos”?Um … hi, I’m Apollos…?
I have a hard time accepting such a wrongful doctrine issuing from a Catholic mouth.You are not going to find the answer to true self-identity outside of yourself.
Adeodatus
I have a hard time accepting such a wrongful doctrine issuing from a Catholic mouth.
We love God because God loved us first; loved us into creation. Before we were formed in the palm of His hand He loved us.“Nevertheless, to praise You is the desire of man, a little piece of Your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising You, because You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
But what does life in the Holy Spirit mean? How is it lived out; how is Christ incarnated in a Christian’s life?Relationship with the Jesus Christ in the Holy Trinity is all the “identity” a man needs.
We are more than what we do. We have to move from anthropo-centred to theo-centred in a great leap of Faith. A “Yes” to the Pantocreator.We are what we do.
Our identity has to be realised if we are to grow. Sanctification is an ongoing process.Our identity isn’t some mysterious nugget hidden deep within a remote mineshaft of the ‘heart’.
At least Buddhist philosophy suggests man’s nature is not hidden, we have to learn how to see. A Christian comes to the realisation he is redeemed before he was born. Original sin is something we carry, not something we are. We sin, but we are not sin.That is what they think in the East… and ultimately, there’s no “there” there.
What does it mean? It must be born out in one’s actions and not be maintained as intellectual mantra.No, at bottom, we all have the same identity: homo sapiens, a rational soul created in the image and likeness of the Living God.
God is Transcendant, He is Imminent, met on a road to Emmaus experience. In the breaking of bread with one another. On a personal encounter on the road to Damascus.So actually we do find our true identity outside ourselves: it is in relationship with God.
@ Apollos:
Hopefully at the end of his/her journey Apollos will be more Apollos than he/she was before. Our identity is in Christ. Christianity is not a negation of our personality, it’s an enrichment, a fulfillment of who we are. To say otherwise would be the glorification of suicide. God does not hate us, but sometimes what we do crucifies his Son.I hope that you will take heart in your noble quest. It sounds like you are living as God wishes: dying to yourself and keeping His commandments. Good for you.
I think you missed my point. There is a very real physical and emotional vulnerability when say an addict is tired, lonely, hungry, needing human contact/friendship, etc. which makes him “vulnerable” to using his drug of choice for relief. The same goes with the weakness of homosexuality as I and others have experienced in their struggle with homosexual temptation (as with all temptations)… When I am physically or emotionally vulnerable in these ways, I feel more tempted.I doubt your saying it, affirmed by your next statement. God is not an escape from life, after we become a Christian there’s still the washing up.
We are all vulnerable - vulnerability is in the small print of life’s contract.
Realisation of vulnerability is the basic building block of growth in relationship.
Well, it’s a word that means me as opposed to someone else. If you’re asking what makes me me, then I don’t know because I’ve never been anyone else. You can differentiate kinds of music by style, but I’m not sure how that translates into differentiating people. Are you saying that what makes me me is that I sound different, or something like that? Anyway I don’t know what all this has to do with anything.What is it to be “Appollos”? You have labelled it, you have a “usage” but not a definition. What defines it, what makes it unique? Saying the piece of music I am listening to is “classical music”. How can it be differentiated from “heavy metal”? Referring to Scripture - when Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say I am?” They had to go deeper than a name, they had to enter into a relationship. Who do you say you are? What relationship have you entered into with “Appollos” that defines him/her as a human being? (Hopefully) we are loved by our parents, they tell us we are loved and lovable. It’s not until we have it confirmed by a stranger do we act upon it. A person in love acts from a base of acknowledgement of being “loved and lovable.” Many of us are strangers to ourselves. What sort of relationship do you have with “Appollos”? You are not going to find the answer to true self-identity outside of yourself. As with Jesus, flesh and blood will not reveal it to you.
Basic to healthy growth is an understanding and accepting of our own unique personality. An ongoing process. Humility is living with ouselves as who we are - warts and all. There’s a story of someone trying all their life to be someone else, dying, getting to heaven, and God saying who are you?Well, it’s a word that means me as opposed to someone else. If you’re asking what makes me me, then I don’t know because I’ve never been anyone else. You can differentiate kinds of music by style, but I’m not sure how that translates into differentiating people. Are you saying that what makes me me is that I sound different, or something like that? Anyway I don’t know what all this has to do with anything.
Right! We must replace it with something else if we take the old away. However, I believe we are talking about two different things here.We can familiarize our mind with vice or virtue, nature hates a vacuum. If something is removed from our nature, something must take its place. Neuroplasticity - the mind is able to change but the more familiar we become with a thought the more ingrained it becomes, like a scratch on an old LP record or a river in a riverbed. We keep falling back into the same old groove.
I wonder, if Jesus was tempted like us in all things…was he tempted by feelings of homosexuality? Doesn’t make him a homosexual, I just wonder if he was tempted.
If I choose not to act on my weakness or the flesh, I have to replace it with something “good”, and what we are looking for in another as far as SSA goes, is really God’s love. We need to feed the Spirit so the spirit will grow. If we feed the flesh, the flesh will grow. There is a scripture that states this.Substituting your weakness for God’s Presence? How do you discover God if not through your weakness and in relationship?
You take pleasure in creation, but God is not a creature though creation does reveal to us much about God.
Chocolate is not in itself bad for you, craving and grasping after it are. Chocolate might become an idol. Your friend can become an idol if you start to think he completes you, if he becomes the centre of your life. True he can be at the centre but he is not the centre of your existence that is God found through relationship with those around you.
The balances in relationships are not always equal.
If you “use” a person ultimately the person who is injured is oneself.
From what I read you are opening to a heart of compassion and insight into your own nature. Humility is developing. This is good.