Resisting Temptation

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As an aspiring Catholic, I find myself in a situation where I need to discard some particularly foul addictions and move on with my faith. My only problem is that no matter how hard I try or pray or ask for God’s help, I fail 90% of the time, just because the temptation is far too great for me to overcome. My problem is porn and pretty much everything that goes along with it to be brief. Can someone please offer some advice?
 
Hi there =)

Pornography and the sins that go along with it (lust, masturbation) are indeed serious sins. It’s good that you realize this; too many aren’t even aware that their actions are wrong 🙂

A few things, none of which are original to me:

1.) Set your homepage to the vatican webpage, or a picture of the trinity, or the holy mother. That way everytime you go online you are reminded of your faith.

2.) If that’s not enough, you might want to renounce your computer in general, or only use it for things which are absolutely necessary, and preferably with someone else in the room with you. Maybe keep the computer unplugged so that plugging it in is a lot of work - sort of like suicidal people are advised to lock up weapons/poisons in such a way that it takes time to access them, so that by the time they access them the temptation has lessened.

3.) Understand that temptation is not sin. For a sexual thought to enter the mind without consent of the will is nothing: it’s giving into the temptation that is a sin. Don’t dwell on the thoughts, don’t even consciously “try to banish them”, necessarily, as this may lead you to think about them more. Rather, distract yourself. Pray, or watch TV, or call a friend - whatever works for you.

4.) You may want to consider a chastity belt.

5.) Keep praying! Never ever ever lose hope in the power of prayer. This is a trial from God, and with his Grace you can pass it.
 
I know someone who was in your shoes. I’ll tell you how he completely overcame this issue even before he entered the Church and had access to the sacraments.

What he did was this: He made a rule that everytime he fell into a sin of impurity, he was not allowed to eat the next day. He stuck to it and overcame the problem relatively quick. He was also praying the Rosary and wearing the scapular during this time, which surely helped.
 
Though it will greatly distort one’s relationship to others in those who fully consent (e.g. are not repentant), I believe that a sin such as this will mainly cause a great sense of shame and unworthiness in a person who in spite of their weakness are trying to be close to the Lord. Being unworthy of God’s mercy is the greatest lie of the father of lies. Satan is continuously telling you that you can’t win this battle, but the truth is the battle is already won through God’s mercy. Run to Him despite all that you perceive as wicked in you. This humility in a sinner pleases the Lord greatly. The greater the sin, the greater the merciful love He will bestow on you through the sacrament of reconciliation. If you’re repentant, your sin is as nothing compared to His mercy. You can’t do this on your own, so don’t let your pride get in the way. You will need God’s grace, which is there for the asking.

Remember, to light up the chamber of your soul you must flip on the light, not try to suck out the darkness. Get rid of the darkness by turning on the light of God’s merciful love. Immerse yourself in holy books, pray the Chaplet of Mercy or the Rosary, and fast if possible. Avoid occasions that lead you into temptation, such as inappropriate television viewing or idle time, and partake in the sacraments frequently.

Why does God “lead us into temptation”? So He can lead us out of pride and into humility, and through humility into holiness. Say: “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. I’m weak and I cannot resist these temptations without your grace. My only hope is in your merciful love”.

You are not alone. I will pray for you.
 
dusza said:
Though it will greatly distort one’s relationship to others in those who fully consent (e.g. are not repentant), I believe that a sin such as this will mainly cause a great sense of shame and unworthiness in a person who in spite of their weakness are trying to be close to the Lord. Being unworthy of God’s mercy is the greatest lie of the father of lies. Satan is continuously telling you that you can’t win this battle, but the truth is the battle is already won through God’s mercy. Run to Him despite all that you perceive as wicked in you. This humility in a sinner pleases the Lord greatly. The greater the sin, the greater the merciful love He will bestow on you through the sacrament of reconciliation. If you’re repentant, your sin is as nothing compared to His mercy. You can’t do this on your own, so don’t let your pride get in the way. You will need God’s grace, which is there for the asking.

Remember, to light up the chamber of your soul you must flip on the light, not try to suck out the darkness. Get rid of the darkness by turning on the light of God’s merciful love. Immerse yourself in holy books, pray the Chaplet of Mercy or the Rosary, and fast if possible. Avoid occasions that lead you into temptation, such as inappropriate television viewing or idle time, and partake in the sacraments frequently.

Why does God “lead us into temptation”? So He can lead us out of pride and into humility, and through humility into holiness. Say: “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. I’m weak and I cannot resist these temptations without your grace. My only hope is in your merciful love”.

You are not alone. I will pray for you.
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Everything you said was spot on, except for one thing. The lord does not lead us to temptation, just the opposite, he shields us from it, we just need to be receptive to how he’s doing it.
 
prodigalson12 said:
Everything you said was spot on, except for one thing. The lord does not lead us to temptation, just the opposite, he shields us from it, we just need to be receptive to how he’s doing it.
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Granted. That’s why it was in quotation marks as to parallel “lead us not into temptation” of the Lord’s Prayer. God most certainly permits that we are led into temptation for a reason, but not so when we are receptive to His grace, which is the point you made.
 
You’ll have to clarify what you mean along parallel “lead us not into temptation” in context, I still don’t understand what you are trying to say with how you were addressing it. the word parallel has me at a loss in this so elaboration for this would be helpful.

Regardless, I do have another tidbit for the OP here. Throw out anything that’s going to expose you to slipping, the TV as well, we are being bombarded with such vile in my book soft core porn all day long, most of the population is desensitized to, that if you turn the thing off for a month or two and come back, will be amazed how much of it has been bombarding your being with complete tripe, example I can use was literally just the other week where I happend to watch it for a short while while eating a meal, this was the childrens channel, and low and behold on the commercials, it was blatantly right there, and even that so called G rated station clearly stated how far modern media has slid. You will see why this problem you have will increase throughout the population, it gets worse and worse as time moves forward, this is the direction our society is going and fully accepting and it’s not a good thing at all. The thing with the media, in your case the porn media, they know your weakness and this in turn makes them money, they will do all they can in order to exploit it to entice you to fill their pocket books.

Final element I have to share with you here brother, He that is in you is far, far, far, and did I say far, greater then he who is in the world, know that and with the previous poster stated, follow his advice, we do indeed fight this war from victory.
 
prodigalson12 said:
You’ll have to clarify what you mean along parallel “lead us not into temptation” in context, I still don’t understand what you are trying to say with how you were addressing it. the word parallel has me at a loss in this so elaboration for this would be helpful.

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Perhaps you’re overestimating me and over-analyzing a bit what I wrote. Then again, perhaps I need correction. By parallel I simply meant bring to mind or draw attention to. I can see now that it wasn’t the best choice of words, so I’ll elaborate.

God allows us to be tempted for a reason and our response will determine the level of holiness we will attain. Though Satan and his ilk are present throughout the plan of salvation, God is eternally fully in charge. Yes, we have free will but only because He wills it. In my understanding “Lead us not into temptation” implies that God could well “lead us” into it should that be His will. When we pray that phrase, we’re asking God not to test us, because we know that He sometimes does. It is a prayer of humility - of someone who acknowledges his weakness when facing a test.

Humility, above all else.
 
Ok, I see where you are getting at with it. Recent revelations in my world shows how he can protect us from temptation, where on one hand, you face it, and out of the blue, he works things around you to give you an easy avenue out, to do the right thing instead of just leaving you to face it entirely on your own. That is how I’m seeing that part of the prayer in my life working in the here and now.
 
If one could do it from their heart,I would think praying for others who have this problem might also help.
 
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