Dear Friends,

I came across a very helpful article and thought it wise to share as this would be a lifeline to many especially youths who are trying hard to stop masturbation and other sexual habits that hinders spiritual growth. It is quite a lengthy read but every line is worth it. For sake of space I will list the steps and I pray that at least someone finds it useful.

1. PROTECT YOUR THOUGHTS: We need to watch the things we think about.
Our thoughts produce feelings. Once the thoughts come to our mind, our feelings then correspond to what we have thought about. So our thoughts generate a corresponding feeling. Feelings then lead us to act accordingly. When those actions are repeated over time, they become our habits.

2. REFUSE TO OPEN THE DOOR: Even when we the thoughts come, we can choose to stop them from entering and settling down.

3. DON’T SUBMIT
Never submit in your mind and thoughts with the idea that masturbation is okay and there is really nothing you can do about it. Whatever we agree with eventually dominates us. Once you accept the thoughts that there is nothing you can do about it, you are defeated and dominated. Hence in this case, always take a stand against knowing that masturbation is not your master. Always see yourself above and not under it.

4. RESIST
The Bible says:
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you”. James 4:7

5. THINK AND PRAY LESS ABOUT IT....this one hit me at first but it made a lot more sense when I understood it.

6. STOP TALKING YOURSELF OUT OF IT

7. STOP STRATEGIZING
A lot of young people keep themselves in that dark room of their mind in an attempt to figure out how to strategize against masturbation. The more you think about those strategies the more you are reminded about your weakness. Remember whatever you think about creates a feeling. Soon from strategy you will go to practice. Please just stop it! Forget it thing even exists! Get yourself busy, face your business and move on with your life.

8. FOCUS CREATES REALITY
What most people don’t know about reality is that we all don’t take reality for what they are. Realities are only what we accept as realities. Realities are what we caught into our focus. So whatever we focus on becomes our reality. If your focus is on masturbation, either you are thinking of how to overcome it, or praying about it, masturbation becomes your reality. Focus on other things in your life and that will change your reality.

9. DECREASE OR MAGNIFY
When it comes to masturbation everything depends on the power of the mind. What our mind focuses on increases. We magnify everything in our lives through and by our focus. The key therefore to reduce the impact of anything over and upon us is to reduce our focus and emphasis on the thing. If you want the topic of masturbation and other sexual suggestions to lose its power and its grip over your life, reduce it by paying less attention to it and by laying less emphasis on it.
When you think about it and talk about it all the time, you make it bigger in real sense.

10. STOP CONDEMNING YOURSELF
One of the immediate consequences of masturbation is the thought of self-condemnation.
Believe in the scripture which says;
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1John 1:9
When we confess our sins he forgives us!
Another scripture says:
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
And I will not remember your sins. Isa 43:25
If God is not remembering you should not remember. One of the greatest strategies of the enemy is to kill you through your own hands, the weapon is self-condemnation.

11. TRYING TO BE PERFECT
One main weapon of the enemy in fighting masturbation is the desire of Christians to try to be perfect. We often think perfection means, never do anything wrong, never fail, never make mistakes. That is not perfection that is actually pride and arrogance.
Perfection in this kingdom means realizing your imperfection and continuously striving to become better by accepting the grace of God to help you conform to his image and likeness. When we strive to be perfect in our own minds and power, we fail horribly. So stop trying to be perfect in the flesh. Your perfection is in God. It is not you that is your own righteousness, God is your righteousness. Rely more on him by faith rather than trying to reply on your works and efforts.

12. GIVE ROOM FOR FAILURE
When you are coming out of sexual addictions especially masturbation, you should give some room for failures, in the sense that it might not immediately work out for you to completely leave without stumbling occasionally. So if you were engaging in masturbation once a day before and it has reduced to once a month, just keep on believing God that it will totally go. Keep believing till it becomes once in 6 months, once a year, until you are totally free from it.
Don’t get me wrong, you could be instantly free, after all science says it takes just 21 days to cultivate a new habit, but the point I am trying to make is, don’t be too hard on yourself.
“For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” Prov. 24:16
Take note that despite the fact that he is falling several times, God still calls him the righteous. As long as you are striving to live righteously he sees you as righteous. That is the good news with our God.

13. DON’T LET MASTURBATION DEFINE YOU
Often, young people with good intentions begin to define themselves by what they do, so a person who masturbates, begins to see himself as a sinner, not like God sees him or who he is in Christ. He wrongly allows what he does to define him. The truth is that you’re not your sin.

99% of you might be good. The little 1% act of imperfection in your character or behavior cannot negate all the 99% positive character traits in you. Know you are accepted before God. Know that your sin or your failure is not you. That in itself will help to detach you, your personality, and your identity from that sin or weakness. Leading you to overcome it faster since you are not carrying the corpse of that sin with you anymore.

14. HAVE THE RIGHT IDENTITY
Think right about yourself. If you want to overcome sexual addiction and masturbation in particular, see yourself as God sees you. Address yourself as a son of God. You are a kingdom citizen. See yourself as God’s image, God’s likeness. Stop seeing yourself as a sinner or a masturbator. See yourself as a lover of God and a worshiper of God. If you feel you have done something wrong, forgive yourself of it and stand right before God.

15. TURN DISADVANTAGE TO ADVANTAGE
Any mistake, failure or weakness you have must be viewed as a reason to desire God more. When you fail, you realize your imperfection and that should make you to want to get closer to God more. Not by thinking of your failure, but by thinking of becoming more like Him, like His character, like His nature, how to emulate Him.
Anytime you fail or fall, let it renew your determination to be more broken, to desire God more, and to strive to come closer to Him.

16. FOCUS MORE ON YOUR DREAMS AND GOALS
As I have said above, what you focus on becomes bigger. It also becomes your reality. Let your main focus in life be in looking for ways and means of how to please God more and how to glorify Him more. Think more about the strategy and tactics of how to do this. That is much better than thinking more of your sin or weakness.

17. GOD’S POWER IS PERFECTED IN OUR WEAKNESSES
Sometimes, the most important things to happen to us are our weaknesses, otherwise we will be full of pride, self-righteousness. This could even lead us to think we are God ourselves. I therefore will like to suggest that you listen to God’s instruction to Paul.

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2corinthians 12:10

18. LET THE MOVIES GO
I have discovered that as a young man, watching movies was one of the main things that was always leading me to the act of practicing masturbation. Unfortunately in our world today, most movies that are not documentaries, have sexual scenes in them. Even if they are not out rightly erotic or pornographic, they still give you enough sexual suggestions for you to keep on playing long after the movie is over.
As a journalist by profession, I know this could be one of the ways sex is programmed into our subconscious mind. So for over 20 years, I stopped watching movies and I am better for it. Soon after I did, masturbation disappeared from my life. I am convinced that if you stop watching movies, 80% of sexual suggestions in your life will be gone.

19. BECOME A GOD LOVER INSTEAD OF A LOVER OF PLEASURE
The first and greatest commandment in the Bible is love. Loving God! We get in trouble though when we love God, but not as God has said we should love him. God’s requirement is that we love him with all our heart, soul and strength.

So when we don’t love him fully, then Satan has a place. Anything we don’t fill with God, Satan will fill it with sin. If you are 90% in love with God, Satan will fill the other 10% for you. One of the ways to overcome masturbation is to fully fall in love with God, with all your heart, soul, body and strength.
“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ‘This is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30

20. Apply the power of the blood
Not too many Christians talk about the power of the blood of Jesus these days, but that power is still much needed today. We need the power of the blood all the time in our lives. You might want to apply by faith the protective power of Jesus on your mind and on your thought life from time to time. Put yourself under the authority of the blood of Jesus. Therein lies a powerful tool to victory.

CONCLUSION
Dear friends, I hope I have been able to help you to a degree with these concrete steps on how to overcome masturbation and other sexual sins in your life. I pray that you will experience the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that empowers us to be free from sin. I also want to encourage all of you who are reading this article to share it with other people, teach it to young men and women around you. Let’s foil the work of the enemy, let God reign Supreme in our lives and in our nations.

http://www.sundayadelajablog.com/6595-2/