New guy
Fri, 06/26/2009 - 14:40
I say the hardest thing to do for a man is to admit that he has a problem. I have a huge one right now? I am good for a few weeks then fall back into the same thing for a few days. I guess I could call it a binge addict. Every time I fall back into the trap I feel like God does not want me to even set foot in his kingdom. Like this addiction has driven me to fall from grace and can never set foot in heaven. That feeling hurts everytime I slip backwards. I was able to fight a drug addiction in high school but can not fight this one alone. How can I fight it?

Comments
Do you know why you feel the way you do concerning the way you feel after you sin? Because you're basing the love that God has for you on your performance, as if you have to perform some sort of "penance" so you can make yourself "right" before God, when Jesus ALREADY died for your sins, and you are ALREADY the righteousness of God by your faith in Jesus. You can't fall from God's grace, because His grace is ETERNAL and EVERLASTING. It's not like you're trying to take God's position in Heaven as satan tried to do. You sinned, and it was obviously wrong, and you are at a place where you feel like God won't accept you because of that sin you committed. Am I right, or am I right? I've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, and burned the t-shirt. What you MUST realize is that no matter WHAT you do, God will ALWAYS love you the same exact way He loves Jesus, and He will ALWAYS see you the same exact way He has seen you ever since you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, which is through the Blood of Jesus. This is in NO WAY an excuse for you to sin, and to keep sinning. This is simply to let you know the truth that God's love is not based on what you do and what you don't do, whether good or bad. If it were, then ALL of us on the earth would have NO chance at all of going to Heaven, BUT Jesus DID die on the cross for our sins, and Jesus DID shed His Blood for us, and satan WAS defeated. My question to you is simply do you believe that what I've said is true for your own life and you as a man of God? THAT is the place you need to come to, and I suggest laying before God, and SERIOUSLY seeking Him, and SERIOUSLY confessing your sins to Him, and repenting of the sins you have committed, because His love for you is not to be taken for granted.
Thanks you guys
thanks guys for the help. I started talking to my old youth pastor again and I hope I can stop this binge thing from happening. I hope I spelled that right. Thanks for the advice.
You hit the nail on the head when you say that one of the hardest things for a man to admit is that he has a problem. It's the perverbial refusing to stop and ask directions when you are lost. It's plain old pride. God never intended for us to go at it alone. The Bible talks about it a lot and to confess our sins to one another (Eccesiates 4:8-12, Proverbs 28:13, James 5:16). Obviously you want to confes it to someone you trust and not a gossip.
As far as an approach to fight it. For me it was to get to know myself, my tendencies, and what my triggers are. Taking every thought captive is important. Entertaining thoughts does to temptation what gasoline does to a fire. You will also need to find something to do to fill in the time you have. I found that once I started to really fight the addiction I had a lot of time on y hands. It was very shocking how much time I spent watching porn when I was on one of my binges. Last but not least keep in the word and keep praying. You can't do this without God. I know there is this penalty box thing that we place on ourselves where we think we hav to do something to atone for our failure before we can approach God again. That is a trick of the enemy and why I would tend to binge. Christ died for our sins past present and future. If you fail immediately pray and run to God.
Keep coming back here and take a look at the resources, testimonies, and other posts in the forums. People come and share a lot of things that have helped them.
Keep up the fight.
After "fighting" for a very long time and never quitting, and now being on the other side of the addiction for almost 6 months now, I'm not sure what the "magic" ingredient is or will be for you, but for me, I had to do a few things.
1. Admit I had a problem.
2. Realize that I am not the only one. This was a huge realization for me, and it really helped me out.
3. Throw myself on God, daily talk to him in prayer, read his word, read books, and pray. And fast. Doing that reminded me constantly that I am not strong enough to do it alone, but through Christ, all things are possible. We cannot sit back and wait for him to remove our feelings and urges - that won't happen so don't wait for it. He wants you to fall on him and have the faith to believe that he is bigger than your lust.
4. Get help. This site is great, the advice is almost always helpful, but get help from a real person, too. Mine was my wife. For the last 6 months, she was it, and she gave me a way to talk and share and cry and scream when I was really hurting. I just talked to my pastor this last week, and will start meeting with him regularly for more "male" accountability. Bottom line - you cannot do this alone. Get help.
You will be in my prayers. Love you.