Every practicing Christian is faced with difficulties in his spiritual life, which in the language of the Holy Fathers are usually called temptations. For many, even spiritually experienced people, such situations often become a real test of strength. People are perplexed, and sometimes seriously discouraged from numerous misfortunes, the origin of which they cannot rationally explain. Hieromonk Dorofei (Baranov), a resident of the Irgiz Resurrection Monastery, tells about what temptations are for, how not to succumb to "provocations", how to treat temptations correctly and fight them.

BATTLE HARDENING

- Father Dorotheus, temptation, as I understand it, is a kind of test, something like a difficult exam. Right?

In a word "temptation" there are two concepts. First, in the ordinary everyday sense, these are difficult and unpleasant life situations that happen to a person by the Providence of God. This includes illness, material need, resentment and injustice from people. They are also called "sorrows". Secondly, v in the most important, spiritual sense, temptation is a state of mind when the danger of falling into sin is close, violating the Divine commandments. In Christianity, the word "temptation" does not have a negative connotation. Though in spiritual life, sin is our main enemy(there is even such a saying that a Christian should not be afraid of anything except God and sin), but without temptations the spiritual growth of a person would be impossible, that is, temptation is a test, after passing which a Christian becomes more experienced, strong, tempered.

- You said that temptations are allowed by God. And believers are of the opinion that they are satisfied with completely different forces ...

The Lord sends us everything: both joys and sorrows. But not in the sense that He plays with us, experiments, but in the fact that the Lord allows evil to act relatively freely, so that man's free will for good manifests itself. Evil is what a person must push off from in order to cleave to good. We say that the Christian must flee from sin. In this sense, temptations are an instrument in the hands of God, through which the Lord makes souls more perfect and fit for salvation.

- Is it impossible to avoid temptations?

- They are inevitable for every person while he is alive, and their strength increases with the spiritual growth of a person. The higher a person ascends along the path of spiritual life, the more he is subjected to temptations. The highest temptation in history was when the Lord Himself in the wilderness was tempted by the devil (Matt. 4: 7-11).

The first temptation happened to Adam and Eve when God gave them the commandment not to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil. The Creator established the rules, because without them, spiritual growth is impossible. Prohibition is the starting point from which a beautiful crystal begins to grow moral personality... Man was created with free will, but if he does not learn to restrain it, he will turn into an animal. If we draw an analogy with computer games, transferring temptations, we go through a turn-based strategy, from an easy level to a more difficult one, overcoming obstacles, sometimes suffering losses, sometimes losing the battle, but gaining experience that will allow us to win the next battle. There is no other way if we want to be moral people.

Of course, you can not think about morality at all, spiritual growth... Then there will be no temptations, everything will be allowed, and “the personality will be revealed in all its fullness,” as it is fashionable to say today. But when this happens, those around them will understand that they are dealing with the beast.

LOYALTY TEST

- How can a person who is not connected with the Church, not familiar with the intricacies of Christian life, understand what is a temptation and what is not?

Let's not divide people into ecclesiastical and non-ecclesiastical. Temptation is not a purely Christian term for an initiate caste. Since we have agreed that the fight against temptation is the source of a person's moral growth, it does not matter what religion he belongs to and whether he is religious in principle. If a person finds himself in a situation of moral choice in favor of good or evil, this is a temptation. And a person will go through this test in any case, realizing its spiritual meaning or not realizing it. The Creator originally laid down the criteria of good and evil in the conscience. When a person is faced with a temptation and does not know what it is, he sends an information request to his conscience, and it tells him what to do. In this sense any event, even the most insignificant, if it involves a moral choice, is a temptation.

In temptations, a person is tested: how he will behave, what he will say, whether he will remain faithful to the gospel way of life or become hardened, whether love for his neighbors outweighs him or pride will prevail. Each of us in temptations has the opportunity to be convinced of what he really is.

- And in practice, how can this be expressed? Let's give examples.

The most common mental temptation is anxiety for one's existence and for providing oneself and one's neighbors with everything necessary for life, regret about any missed opportunities or mistakes in achieving material wealth, envy of others' success, dissatisfaction with one's financial situation. Struck by this temptation, the soul often falls into stupid vanity.

Another type of mental temptation is the fear of imaginary dangers and the anticipation of the possibility of various misfortunes. The soul is full of anxiety and anxiety. It seems that all fears come true, the person is already experiencing misfortunes in his thoughts and is tormented in vain.

Regret can be a temptation too. “What a pity that it happened”,- we think, frustrating ourselves with fruitless regrets, and sinning against the hope of God's providence for us.

Self-reproach only makes sense when we reproach ourselves for sin. In everyday affairs, it is harmful, since it gives rise to despondency and therefore plays into the hands of our enemy. Even if we were mistaken, it did not happen without the Providence of God. Most often, life's failures convict us that we rely on ourselves in our deeds, and not on God's help.

Temptations often attack when a person does some kind of good deed. The enemy in these cases, more than usual, is angry with us and tries to nullify the results of our efforts, spoiling it with some offense. For example, by showing mercy to our neighbor, we may regret the money we have given. Or, vanity, tell someone about a perfect good deed. Otherwise, we will spoil a good deed by condemning our neighbor at the same time.

One of the most difficult temptations is the temptation against love - enmity or dislike for loved ones. It is like a stone lying on the heart of the tempted, thoughts about an unpleasant person are constantly spinning in his head, quarrels, reproaches, offensive words, unfair accusations are recalled. A person winds himself up more and more, the soul is full of bitterness, irritation, annoyance, resentment, and this is a sign that the wicked one dominates her powerfully, that is, in all cases when there is no love, joy, peace in the heart, it means that the person either committed sin, or is in temptation against love.

AVOIDING SELF-CONNECTION

- In the prayer "Our Father" there is a petition: "And do not lead us into temptation." Why did the Lord Himself teach to ask not to lead us into temptations, if we still cannot do without them? What specifically are we asking for in this prayer?

You need to understand that temptation is an exam that we may not pass. In fact, we ask the Creator to minimize the number of troubles that come upon us, because we are not sure that we will cope with them. On the one hand, Christians are warriors in the spiritual field, but on the other hand, we are not sure of our strength, so we ask God that the war of evil against us be less intense. A Christian should not think of himself that he is such a tough special forces in the spiritual struggle, he is not afraid of anything, he can enter into any battle with evil. Man himself is not able to overcome evil; he can only join in Christ's victory.

- That is, for a Christian, believing in his own strength, even when it comes to resisting sin, is arrogance?

- For any person, arrogance is the most dangerous delusion. You need to distinguish between prudence, the ability to soberly assess your strength, weigh your words and deeds, and arrogance, that is, unwillingness to ask God for help. When a person lives without God, relying only on himself, temptations fall on him one by one and overcome him. Even if, according to worldly ideas, a person seems to be a winner, has achieved everything that is possible, an hour will come, and death will come after him, to which he can no longer oppose anything.

- When a person comes to the Church, the Lord, as if in advance, showered him with spiritual joys. But the time of church childhood passes quickly, and temptations begin. Why is that?

This suggests that the person has become stronger and is ready to start spiritual teaching. We need to thank the Lord for the “placed trust” and courageously accept everything that is sent to us. There is no need to treat temptations like bumps that fall from morning to night on our heads. This is a sign of the Lord's special care for us. And if temptations fall on big church holidays, we can say that we are honored. This means that we pleased the Lord and at the same time greatly angered the enemy. But it is necessary to remember: if the Lord did not know that this temptation would benefit us, He would not have allowed it.

- Father Dorotheus, how to deal with temptations?

Learn to experience them correctly. For example, one often hears from people who succumbed to the temptation of a lustful passion that its strength was so great that they could not resist it. This is just an attempt to justify their own unwillingness to fight evil. There are no temptations that a person cannot cope with. Actually, any temptation makes us answer the main question in life: "Who I want to be? Do I want to be a moral person, living according to the spiritual laws that God gave people, or does it not matter to me? "

You can choose the second way - to get out of the circle outlined by God's commandments, but then you need to be prepared for a spiritual catastrophe in your life. There is no need to harbor illusions, it is inevitable. As a priest, I see it every day. There has never been a single case when a person who violated a moral prohibition would be happy after that. People destroy families, hoping that they will be more fortunate in their second marriage. Sometimes it even seems to them that they are happy in a new relationship, but this happiness is poisoned by bitterness. And a person lives, not understanding why his child grows up as a drug addict, or there are continuous problems at work, or illnesses pursue ... He is still looking for some reason, but the reason is the same: he crossed the moral line and became defenseless against evil. In the end, after wandering around the endless circle of worldly "consolations" with which they usually try to drown out this bitterness, a person realizes that he still needs to come to an agreement with God, and comes to confession. Until the weight of sin is washed away from the soul by repentance, a person will be tempted. Therefore, if trials are haunted, you need to analyze your life, remember the broken commandments and bring repentance to God.

SEE YOURSELF IN TRUE LIGHT

- But temptations also persecute those people who try to live carefully and do not commit serious sins. What, then, is the point for them in such tests?

We have come to a very important point in understanding the meaning of temptations: they also serve as a litmus test for the manifestation of our inner spiritual wormholes. For example, if, in our opinion, we are being unfairly oppressed by our superiors, we may think too much of ourselves. And when a person attacks us for no reason at all, perhaps we should look into ourselves and see the pride in ourselves, which required such a treatment.

Something constantly happens in our life that outrages us, especially when we hear impartial assessments in our address. How do we usually act in response? We strive to justify ourselves, we seek arguments to prove our innocence. If we remain in the same position, similar temptations will be repeated over and over, until we see that all our failures inrelationships with people are rooted in our pride. But as soon as we change the approach - treat the attacks with humility, we will find that they stop. God gives grace to the humble.

In general, temptations are useful. Passing through them, a person gets the opportunity to correctly understand his life and soberly assess himself. Flattering assumptions about oneself and derogatory ones about others are crumbling. Think yourself worthy of better success than others? And so, he rolled to the very bottom. Constantly demanded something from others, without delving into their situation? Now you are being oppressed, persecuted, slandered. He considered himself better than others and faced the gross violence of sinful thoughts. It is easier for a pious person than for a sinner to fall into spiritual delusion about his spiritual gifts and successes, and temptations serve as a cure for this disease. In such circumstances, a person sees with his own eyes his weakness in judgments, actions, deeds, emotions and humbles himself. Good learners learn lessons quickly and correct mistakes. Therefore, if in temptations we become spiritually more mature, humble and skillful, then temptations are endured by us incomparably easier. Some of them may even bypass us in the future. But if we persist in pride, self-conceit and murmuring, then we fail the exam, and our humility will require more severe trials than those that were.

- How to cope with internal temptations - for example, with such when haunted by bad thoughts about the person who offended us? Sometimes this condition lasts a very long time.

To fight thoughts, you need to consider yourself worse than other people. Put any person who offended you, hurt you, showed injustice, disrespect, rudeness towards you, above yourself. Look at him from the bottom up, and then unpleasant collisions with people will be minimized as much as possible, because you will always be ready to give in, not to answer evil for evil, to apologize. You can not believe in the effectiveness of this recipe and look for thousands of reasons not to resort to it, but this is the only way to achieve peace of mind. When a person inside himself believes that he is the very last insect, it is impossible to offend him. When Christ came into the world, he showed that the only way out of the world of evil that surrounds us is to give this evil absolute freedom, to give evil the opportunity to do whatever it wants with you, but at the same time not to lose hope in God. "God will not leave his own",- such a saying among Christians. This combination of readiness not to respond with evil to evil and trust in God makes a Christian absolutely invincible. We think that if everyone in a row gives up their place in the queue, you will not reach the counter, but I know a person who decided on such an experiment and was escorted to the cashier by grandmothers to the applause of the whole queue.

In the modern world, a person is so used to protecting his space - personal and family, that he is constantly in a state of readiness to reflect the aggression of the world around him. Today, the desire to give in, help someone, postpone their business and take care of someone else's is perceived by people as some kind of feat. In the meantime, look at how the saints lived. Holy Blessed Matrona. It would seem what position could be lower: born blind, not walking, not leaving home, and meanwhile she influenced the fate of millions. Therefore, the only way, if not to remove, then to minimize temptations, is to destroy yourself as a self-valuable person, to say: “I don't belong to myself, I belong to God. He decides what is good for me and what is bad. " With such an internal attitude, evil in the form of temptations does not stick to a person. And if it sticks, then quickly retreats.

HELP WILL NOT SLOW DOWN

- So, no matter what temptation God sends us, it is always beneficial?

Yes. Moreover, if He sends a temptation, then in this moment More than ever, he wants us to humble ourselves and learn patience. We often think that temptation prevents us from doing what would be more pleasing to God. And by this we are falsely deceived, because we think that we know God better than please Him more. And the very idea that we please God when we do some kind of good deed deceives us, elevating us in our own eyes, and this arrogance negates the good deed.

- Does prayer help you to endure temptations more easily?

Of course! This is evident from the words of the Lord's Prayer "Our Father" - a prayer that Christ himself uttered, telling his disciples that they should pray in this way. Therefore, if a person is faced with a moral choice, and it is very difficult for him to make this choice, he needs to call on God for help. That is why it is so important to know at least this prayer: in order not to be left alone with trouble in a difficult situation.

If the temptation is associated with condemnation, hostility or enmity towards someone from your neighbor, then you need to remember all the good in this neighbor and begin to regularly pray for him. And the help of the Lord will not slow down. Your state becomes clear, temptation is understandable. And as soon as it is cognized, the temptation dissipates like smoke.

- The Holy Fathers say that the Jesus Prayer also helps in temptation, especially when a person falls into anger or despondency.

Undoubtedly. The Jesus Prayer is a verbal expression of the constant memory of God. A person seems to cling to the robe of Christ: "Lord, do not depart from me, as I do not depart from You." The Jesus Prayer is a constant invocation of God, but for modern man living in the world, it will be difficult to create it incessantly. It was in Byzantium at the time of Gregory Palamas (1296–1359, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Byzantine theologian and philosopher, Orthodox saint. - OL) in the market a blacksmith and tanner could argue for hours about the practice of the Jesus Prayer. Today, this level of prayer is possible only in monasteries. Although, if a person is exposed to some difficult inner temptations, he should resort to this prayer as a weapon in the fight against enemy attacks.

I would only warn the reader against the magical attitude towards prayer, which is very common in our time. Some people even perceive prayer as a conspiracy: read it - and you're done, the effect is obvious. This is not true. Prayer is just a conversation with God. We mentally open a window to the sky and shout, we call God. Of course, we expect help from Him. But, if she does not come, this does not mean that God does not hear us, and therefore we must run to psychics. This suggests that, in God's opinion, it is more useful for us to endure troubles. Patience of temptations, even those of long duration, is also a spiritual exercise.

Nothing that happens to us in life happens outside of God's providence. At the same time, the providence of God sends to each person only such temptations, punishments (from the word "command" - a lesson) that are necessary for him to save him. Not only bodily sorrows of a Christian must be accepted as from the beneficent hand of God, but also the evil that people or evil spirits cause.

The Lord sees a person's heart, knows its capabilities, and if we cannot endure some difficult temptation, it is not sent to us. And the other is subjected to very strong temptations, but only because God knows that he can bear it. "If there were no temptations, no one would have received the Kingdom of Heaven",- said the Monk Anthony the Great. So let us thank God for all the temptations through which He leads us to Himself.

Sunday sermons by P. Fyodor Konovalov 18, 25.09.11

It is very important to understand that we are already blessed. The devil just wants to bite us and take away the blessing we already have.

You will not be blessed someday, you are already blessed.

“God is very interested in our prosperity and our rich life.

- For God, we are important first of all, and then the matter. He wants us to do things not from the guilt that is in us, but from the feeling of satisfaction.

The temptation is not really sent to kill us, but to train us to live the way Jesus Christ lives.

Jacob 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because, having been tested, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. Temptation is connected with our future, with our life. We, passing, enduring temptation, become trained in life. And we become able to live like God.

Jacob says temptation must be endured. Have you ever carried any weight? At first, it's hard for you and you want to get rid of it faster. But not all temptations leave our lives at once. There are temptations that train us throughout our lives. And you, transferring them, determine whether you will have the crown of life.

The crown of life is the reward for your work. Militant labor against all kinds of temptations.

The crown is not given at the beginning. And at the end of the war ………

You have to fight with temptation, and for this there are certain tactics and strategies.

You need to disassemble:

Example - Marathon: 490 BC NS.

15,000 Persians (from the area now called Iran) landed in the Gulf of Marathon, northeast of Athens, where they encountered 11,000 Athenians. The Greeks, although losing in numbers, had one advantage - the phalanxes. Each Greek warrior held his shield so that it overlapped with the shield of a neighbor, protecting partly its owner, and partly the warrior on the left.

This was new to the Persians, who were accustomed to fighting one-on-one. 6,000 Persians and only 200 Athenians were killed in that ancient Persia.

In the Marathon, the tactics of working in unison and concentration of forces were used for the first time.

How to deal with temptation?

1. You need to move in unison with the vision of the team and concentrate forces on a common goal.

- It is very important. The Greeks had success because they were not alone. They were together, covering each other with shields.

The fact is that the shield in the Bible is called the shield of faith. Sometimes our personal faith is not enough to overcome the onslaught of temptation, and then we need to use someone's shield, someone's faith. Eph 6: 16 Scripture says most of all, take the shield of faith with which you quench the arrows.

Temptation is the fiery arrows of the wicked one that must be extinguished.

- The Greeks supported the phalanxes in order to be invulnerable, they stood shield to shield.

Your faith should be enough not only for yourself, but also for others.

In times of crisis, in times of difficulty, do not criticize each other, continue to speak the words of faith. With which you can push each other to courageous and desperate actions.

Example of birds: Geese fly in the sky with a key and hind geese, which are easier to fly because they follow the leader. They scream, encouraging the first.

Sometimes we are the first to shout not words of encouragement, but words of criticism and discontent. This is what will imbalance the team and make it vulnerable to temptation.

To overcome the temptation, you need to determine the source of its occurrence and direct all forces to eliminate it. Jacob 1: 13 In temptation, do not say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone,

- The Scripture says that not God is the source and not even the devil, but the source is a person's own lust.

A carnal man feeds his flesh with lust. Therefore, that person has a loss of values, salvation, and such a person becomes amazed.

- It is important to define your weakness and determine with what you will defeat it.

example: Hastings: 1066

Let's skip about a thousand years and move to the small English town of Hastings, where the Normans, led by William (also known as William the Conqueror), were supposed to change the course of history. They were opposed by King Harold and his Saxons.

Like most battles, the Battle of Hastings was a series of small successes and a series of small failures for both sides. Then Wilhelm made an important decision. He decided that King Harold himself, the great leader, should be the main target in the attack on the Norman forces.

William chose 20 knights and instructed them to fight their way through the ranks of the Saxons and capture the king. (Today we would send 20 lawyers with 5-year contracts.) The four knights eventually succeeded, and they executed poor Harold.

Wilhelm was right. Seeing that the king was dead, the Saxons weakened their defenses, and the Normans won.

Harold is like a type of our own flesh, which needs to be defeated and then we will ease the pressure from the demons and the devil on us.

All your strength must be devoted to eliminating the root of the problem.

Weakness is what tempts you the most. To overcome it, you need to know this weakness, and then take the tools of God in order to overcome it.

We overcome by the truth of God and the power of the Holy Spirit of temptation.

How to do it? What are our knights who can defeat our lust?

2) You need to start proclaiming victory over temptation and praying.

3) It is necessary to confess before spiritually senior people. You can't stay on your own with your problem.

- Let someone constantly ask you about your weakness, put yourself under the control of the person to whom you will have to tell the truth.

4) You need to confess before God, but in no case get into feelings of guilt.

- We need to believe in the power of redemption for us on the cross of Calvary. There in Jesus is your power to overcome sin. John 15: 1-3 I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away; and every one that bears fruit, he purifies, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already cleansed through the word that I have preached to you. Scripture says that by abiding in Him we are illuminated and become able to live a holy life.

“Without Him, we cannot squeeze holiness out of ourselves.

5) It is impossible to stay constantly in the zone of sin, especially where we know that we have problems there.

I have sometimes met people who said that they wanted to conquer alcohol where there was an alcoholic environment. And it was not clear to me how a person who wants to win is not in the place where he is taught this. This suggests that in fact such a person lives in the seduction of his lust. He deceives himself.

For such people it is necessary to pray and denounce, so that they hear the truth about themselves.

To overcome the temptation that comes into your life, you need to be constantly renewed by revelation from the Word of God.

Revelation gives us power over the challenges and temptations that come.

Revelation is like a weapon, our superweapon, which creates the effect of surprise for the devil and his forces. We become much more effective in our faith because in the power of revelation from God to move us from strength to strength and from glory to glory.

example: Crécy: 1346

In war - as in war. War is never one-sided. In 1346, in the city of Crécy, the British settled scores with the French.

The key to Edward III's victory was the English longbow, an invention not too different from the introduction of God's revelation into spiritual warfare. To have such a bow - in the XIV century it was tantamount to having a machine gun today - the infantry and archers for the first time were able to resist the cavalry (the same that killed poor Harold).

But a large bow, which could shoot six times faster than a crossbow, required a certain skill and dexterity. Revelation strengthens our proclamation because it is born in the spirit of faith. And therefore, it is more than just information that is in our head.

To receive revelation, you need to work on the Word of God every day, meditating and comparing the Word with your life. It took six years of training to become a real archer and to pull the string, sending an arrow 200 yards.

So on Sundays in good old England, men went to shooting ranges. Not to church.

(69 years later, in 1415, at Agincourt, it turned out that the French had never learned their lesson. At that time, 5,500 English defeated the 20,000th French army. Yes, the longbow really stood up to the cavalry with dignity.)

I believe that a person who owns a revelation does much more work than someone who does not.

Youthful lusts, temptations ... Is this topic appropriate today? I think yes. Looking at the modern environment, sometimes you think that all the underworld has rebelled against our young people today. The world wants to exert its negative effect, first of all, on young hearts because they have no life experience, entering this world. Many young people were under the care of adults who somehow guided and protected them. And now they have grown up and are going out into the world for an independent life. And this world offers too much. Abundant advertising, offering this or that, literally haunts young hearts, and sometimes they do not have enough life experience to see behind all this external facade the true essence of everything that follows it all.

Temptation itself is not a sin. But if we follow the path of this temptation a few steps further, then something else appears. This is desire. And desire is already lust. So what is lust? Ozhegov explained it this way in his dictionary: "coarse-sensual sexual desire". Dahl explains it this way: "longing for something forbidden by God." If you summarize everything, then one meaning emerges: a strong desire to satisfy the needs and desires of the flesh, which, naturally, go against the will of God.

On the pages of the Bible, we will find many passages that speak of lust. In Psalm 105, we read about the Israelite people who were lustful and looked back: at onions, garlic, at the meat they ate in Egypt. And here, in the desert, all this is not. And the desire for this former abundance was kindled in their hearts. Discontent grew with what they had. If we take a close look at this, we see four sources from which all this originates.

First, it's Satan. He tempts a person, he wants to bring him to death. Secondly, it is our flesh that prompts us to do this. It's about the desires of the flesh. Thirdly, this is the world in which we live. The world, with its own methods and means, is trying to take possession of young hearts, to force them to live according to their own laws.

And the last is our "I", our big and proud "I". He who satisfies his desires from these sources will learn from experience that he will never satisfy them. Desires will grow like a snowball, grow more and more. And there will be no end to it. Finally, they will turn into evil lust that destroys life. Therefore, the Lord wants especially young people to flee from this. Why? If we lay down in our younger years healthy image life, we will be saved from the many temptations of this world. God will lead such in wonderful ways. But when we destroyed not only our body, but also our inner thinking, how much work needs to be done in order to return to the righteous paths again. Sometimes we acquire a lot of things that can never be fixed. And we have to live with these grave consequences of our lusts and desires. Therefore, Paul seriously warns his young minister: flee youthful lusts!

Scripture specifically tells us about this: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. This is what the world attracts hearts, especially the young. These are the chains that he throws on young people in order to bind them and direct them along a path that does not please God. God is not keeping pace with the world. He who loves the world does not have the love of the Father. Desires are incompatible - to go with the world and go with God. Unfortunately, today many are trying to combine the incompatible, they want to go with one foot there, the other here. What is the result? I am not at home in the world, and I am not in the church. Forked life.

Lust of the flesh. The law of sin lives in each of us. It is a monster that we carry inside us and that destroys our entire spiritual life. This state can be explained by the following example: among the Romans, one of the punishments of repeat offenders - murderers was the following: he was tied to the back of the person he had killed, and he had to carry this decaying stinking corpse everywhere with him. He had no right to free himself from this burden, and very often a person lost his mind from all this. If we were clearly aware of all the consequences of the influence of lust on our spiritual life, then we would look at many things differently.

Today we have many temptations, the flesh really tempts us. And the trouble is that we are flirting with temptations. We think that at the right moment we can step aside. But in the end, we play out to the point that the inner fire of lust is so kindled that we can no longer do anything.

I recently spoke with a girl. She is a believer, but decided to connect her life with an unbeliever. She gave many reasons that he was good. I answered her that I had nothing against it, but is it possible to combine the dead with the living? It is impossible before God to combine something like that. But sometimes a person says that even if they are excommunicated, I will still follow this path. Why? Because they have flirted with our flesh for too long, and are no longer able to extinguish the fire of lust. This is the case with many temptations. When only the thought of sinfulness arises, how easy it is to extinguish this spark. It is very difficult to extinguish a fire if you do not stop in time.

Another example: we listen to a sermon about the need to have a quiet time for fellowship with God. We say, "Yes, I need it. I'll get up early tomorrow." The moment comes, but it's so nice to lie in bed. We have already pressed down the ringing alarm clock so that it does not bother. Well, just a couple more minutes. And we ourselves continue to bask. Then I decide that I will start tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow ... But in the end it turns out that I want to get up, but I can't. The desire of the flesh is stronger, and the prayer that was supposed to change my life remains familiar and boring. It remains an ordinary, external form.

The lust of the eyes is what our eyes want to see. The Lord has prepared many beautiful pictures for our eyes: the surrounding nature, children, the sky ... But how often our eyes need something else. I had to talk a lot with young people. And when I see that there are problems in a person's life, I ask him a question: what is happening in your thoughts? And, as a rule, a glance falls, a guilty glance, because his thoughts are thrown into chaos. I spoke with one person. Outwardly, he tried to show well-being: he played like an artist, he looked very pompous, he gave out terms from Scripture one after another. But I felt that inside him everything was crying. And I asked him: if we could now look at your thoughts over the past 12 hours, could we thank God and rejoice? You know, it was as if the mask had been removed from him. He became stern, serious. Where did all his bravado go? The area of ​​thought is one of the most difficult and uncontrollable parts in the life of young people. One person confessed that it would be better if he was blind. cannot pass by many pictures in this world. These pictures produce the most terrible consequences in his life. Flee youthful lusts - the Scripture tells us.

The pride of life. A huge uncontrollable "I" in our life plays a big negative role. This "I" is very difficult to please. It is always offended. Someone underestimates him, someone does not give him what he needs. Either it did not get enough sleep, then it was insulted ... My "I" begins to assert its rights from early childhood. A simple example. The children's choir sings, and they asked Anya to sing. They gave me a microphone, and Anya sang. Everyone admires how well the child sang. Next time another girl was asked to sing a solo. Mom begins to be indignant: how is it, Anya has such a good voice, and the solo was given a different one. Here and in the heart of the child resentment and discontent grows. Next time, Anya is given a solo again. And our Anya, by leaps and bounds: again contentment and nose up. We did not notice how we planted pride in our hearts, which will now go on for life with her. Anya wants to be talked about, to be admired, etc. Anna Ivanovna grows out of this Anechka. And the character also stiffens, and now try to touch this Anna Ivanovna, her "I": here she will show herself, you can be sure. Pride grows with us, and it starts from the smallest. It's good, it's just wonderful that the Lord gives us various gifts. But let it not become a lust in your life, a desire to always and everywhere be the first, so that everyone will notice, note, etc. It is very important that all desires of our flesh are under the strict control of our spirit. The desire to eat is not bad in itself - so God did. And we don't need to set an alarm so as not to miss this moment. We have an internal alarm clock that says it's time to go to the table. But how easily the need to eat turns into gluttony. And I would like to draw your attention to the fact that there is a great danger when the flesh dictates its rights in our life.

It takes an effort to remove lust from your life. It is not enough just in prayers to ask: Lord, deliver, remove, etc. He will not help like that, because He expects practical actions on my part. The Bible says: keep your vessel. Save is an action! Run away is action too! If Joseph had not taken any action (Gen. 39:12), what might have happened? But he ran away. He took decisive action and was victorious. The Bible calls to mortify our lust, to hate, to give up to a shameful death. And these are actions that will give strength to live a different life.

What reasons lead a person to such a miserable state? It starts with the simplest thing - a person stops reading the Word of God. "I know the Bible! I read it completely last year. I know everything that is written there by heart." That's what people say. But if you dig deeper, it turns out that he does not know and does not understand Scripture at all. The Bible should become a part of my life, my food! Man does not live by bread alone in temptations, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Our flesh cannot live without bread. Even if I know that it is delicious, even if I know that it is in my closet, it does not help me at all. I need to eat it so that it becomes part of my flesh. Knowing Scripture by heart won't help me! I need to feed on It so that It becomes a part of my life. Somewhere I did not pray ... I used to pray several times a day, at work, in my free time, etc. Today I only pray at the table and before bed. Tomorrow I forget to pray before going to bed, tiredness pushes us to bed faster. Slowly, a person begins to weaken spiritually. He stops awake, then leaves the meeting and, as a result, he has new hobbies. “I really love to play chess,” some say. Is it a sin to play chess? I think many will say no. What if I play chess for 5 hours every day? This is not to say that this is a sin, but it leads to the destruction of my spiritual life. This does not contribute to my growth, on the contrary, it will lead to the fact that after chess I will have a whole bunch of other temptations that will lead me to sin. Therefore, a believer must strictly control himself in his hobbies.

Double life is another problem for today's youth. Once I spoke with a young man and asked him why such things are happening in his life. And he replied that he did not see anything wrong with that. His father does this: during the day he acts in worldly ways, and in the evening at prayer he asks God to forgive him. The father is a member of the church, he sings in the choir. Children see all this, quickly learn a lesson: if necessary, do it, then ask for forgiveness and that's it. Seeing this example, they will live a double life. But the Bible condemns such a life. The Bible admits: if you slip or fall - rise up and go to the Lord, in contrition asking for forgiveness. And the Lord comes to meet. But when I live like this with a clear conscience, there is no excuse for me.

Wrong motives for repentance. It happens that a person said a few words, and we are already ready to sing a joyful song in the meeting. Yes, he knows very well how to do it, he saw it many times in the congregation. Moreover, his parents bother him with questions like "when will you repent." And so he comes out, pronounces the duty words, and we sing him a joyful psalm, congratulate him. And nothing happened there. His heart was not filled with anything - he has a different purpose. As a rule, this is a girl or a guy who sympathizes with him or her. The goal there is a quick marriage. Unfortunately, some go for these things. God does not recognize such motives. He recognizes one motive - when my heart breaks with the burden of sin. When I have no way out, when I cry to the Lord about it. The Lord enters into such a heart and gives a new birth, He fills this heart and gives the strength to live new life... But it is also important to streamline your life. Yes, He forgives all our sins, but He wants that now, where we used to steal, lie, etc., we could fix everything. Yes! "Whom I have offended, I will repay four times," Zacchaeus said (Luke 19: 2). He wanted not only forgiveness, but so that the rest of his life would not be overwhelmed by anything. And we sometimes say "Lord, forgive me," but we cannot look a person in the eye, because we have offended him, insulted and so on. The Holy Spirit cannot live in such a heart, because it is not removed there. And we stop, we cannot go further. Moreover, we are starting to go back. But the Lord wants us to live a fulfilling life!

Paul says, "Timothy, flee youthful lusts." This requires decisive action. For young man the decision to run away is associated with cowardice. But just run away! Even if it will be hard, even if we have to go to the fiery furnace, but we will not worship the sinful! The determination to walk the path of God, to run away from everything that does not praise the Lord is the path of victory.

How can teenagers remain faithful to Jesus in a sex-obsessed world?

God commands and demands that there should not be even a hint of sexual immorality among us as the people He saved (Ephesians 5: 3). Of course, we all think it's incredibly easy to do, right? NOT RIGHT!

These feelings are completely impossible most (possibly all) of the time. If there is one area of ​​life where Satanic sentiments win the battle, it is the area of ​​sex. And if there is one area where our bodies scream at us to disobey God, it is in the area of ​​sex.

Therefore, I want to give you 20 tips to help you avoid fornication:

Find out what pleases God. This exhortation is straight from Ephesians 5:10, and it is part of what it means to live a life worthy of our calling as Christians, and part of what it means to live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.

Find out what is God's will for your life. 1 Thessalonians 4: 3-5 says: “For the will of God is your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication; so that each of you know how to keep his vessel in holiness and honor, and not in the passion of lust, like the pagans who do not know God. " This cannot be said clearer than here!

The battle begins in consciousness. You must know what God says about sex and trust what God says about sex. You have to be careful what you fill your mind with. Imagination is often a breeding ground for cultivated sins. Martin Luther once said about sexual desires: “We cannot prevent birds from flying over our heads, but we will not allow them to sit on our head and build their nests on it. Likewise, we cannot prevent bad thoughts from sometimes coming into our heads, but we must not allow them to nest in our brain. "

Pray (This is also a spiritual battle). Trust in God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to be strong in this battle. (Matthew 6:13; 2 Timothy 2:22; James 5:16)

Don't put yourself in a situation where it will be easy for you to succumb to temptation. There is no point in praying that God will not lead you into temptation and then walk right into the tempting situation.

Remember, God is watching. You will never be completely out of sight. Someone can always see you.

Wield an ax. Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew 5: “If your right eye tempts you, pluck it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not your whole body was cast into Gehenna, because the reward is immortal life". So, if the Internet, magazines, television, or someone else calls you to commit sin, cut it off. Cut off the things that tempt you.

Talk about sex (responsibly). You cannot fight this alone. You need God's help and the help of God's people too.

You are not alone. It can be helpful to know that you are not the only person who has been tempted in this way. “You have not been tempted other than human” (1 Corinthians 10: 13a).

You CAN resist. “And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, so that you can bear it” (1 Corinthians 10: 13b).

Know that God gives you a way out: “But when you are tempted, He will also give relief” (1 Corinthians 10: 13c).

Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God. Christians are people who died to sin (knowing that sin leads to death) and now live for God and righteousness, knowing that this leads to eternal life (Romans 6: 11-14).

Remember the cross. Jesus died for our sins, including sexual sins.

Remember Jesus is coming back. We will have to give an account of our lives, even our sex lives.

Memorize Scripture. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he overthrew the devil using the Scriptures (Matthew 4: 1-11). Having God's Word in the foreground of your mind can help you too.

Fatigue and sadness often lead to sin. Know yourself. Know when you are weak and tempted.

The fight is good sign... Fight and don't give up.

Be careful with what you wear. Modesty is good for you and for others too.

Forgiveness is achievable. If you sin sexually, you can still be forgiven, such is the power of the crucified Christ. Therefore, repent, return to God and live for Him.

Read good books. Recently the book "Teenage Sex" was published by Fervr. You may find her a helpful guide for answering some of your questions about sex.