LEAVE The Sexual Stimulators Now|Guard Your Heart!

Each person is stimulated into unhealthy sexual habits by different things.

Once you identify what stimulates or triggers you, you’ve won half of the battle!

I learnt this lesson the hard way.

When I was single, a young lady next door liked to come over to watch Nigerian movies in the evenings. We’d talk a lot, and I began getting crazy and sinful ideas.

We got comfortable with each other and I began touching her inappropriately. I was losing the fight of abstaining little by little. Sadly, I was at the edge of graduating from the fornication of the heart and hands to the fornication of sexual organs.

I didn’t have the strength to walk away. I was going through a hurtful rejection from a girl I liked and felt spiritually and emotionally drained. It felt nice and comforting to have this young woman around.

The situation almost ended in disaster. But God made me a way of escape as He says in His Word. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Her mum noticed her frequent visits and stopped her from visiting.

I should not have allowed her to visit me often in the first place and especially after beginning to lust after her. Her presence was a trigger for me. I should have handled the situation better.

What happened broke my heart because I had sinned against my heavenly Father, let down my Lord Jesus and grieved the Holy Spirit. I repented with tears and resolved to not put myself in situations where I can easily sin.

What triggers you? Or who triggers you?

Anyone or anything that stimulates you sexually will ignite, increase and accelerate your sexual desire. With time, it’ll become more difficult not to engage in a sexual act to relieve the tension you’ve accumulated.

I call the sexual stimulators subtle because they seem innocent at the start. They don’t shout or hurt. They feel good, safe and fun. But they’re doing major damage to our resistance against sexual sin!

Cut The Stimulators Off Now

When it comes to things that stimulate lust, Jesus says CUT THEM OFF.

He says,

“So if your eye – even your good eye – causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away… And if your hand – even your stronger hand – causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” (Matthew 5:28-31)

One of my friends struggled with watching sensual dances on YouTube and visiting porn sites. He took the radical decision of giving away his smartphone until he had learned to control himself.

What do you need to cut off in your life today?

If spending time with someone makes you want to have sex with them, either by the words they tell you or by wanting to touch you, cut them off.

Never trust the chemistry of your body or else you’ll do things you’ll regret.

If a place you go to influences you negatively, please stop going there. A lady friend from church told me her sad story.

She fasted for thirty days and on the last day, she visited her boyfriend. One thing led to another, and they had sex. She felt so broken that after days of fasting, she fell into sin. But it didn’t end there.

She conceived on that very day. I saw the disappointment on her face as we talked. She couldn’t believe it happened to her.

Please don’t trust yourself with a person of the opposite sex, especially if you’re attracted to them. Avoid spending time together alone in private places thinking you can control yourself.

Meet in public places. If you must meet at a home, make sure other people are present. If not, just take a walk rather than close yourselves in a house. I know this sounds too strict but it will save you from many tears and troubles.

If the songs you listen to stimulate you, please delete them. At campus, I burnt cassettes of love songs that were seriously pushing me to get a girlfriend ASAP.

If a phone or laptop brings bad company, as it did to my friend, ditch it until you have the self-control and self-discipline to use it for good. Or put controls to keep away from danger.

Whatever the Holy Spirit convicts you to cut off, please do it right away. He sees the danger ahead and wants to save your life.

At our home, we gave away our TV. The house help would leave our firstborn daughter to watch TV as she did house chores. I often found our baby watching bloody movies and secular music at a time when she was only one year and a half. We cut it off immediately.

Such radical actions are necessary. King Solomon says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Replace The Bad Habit You Cut Off With A Good Habit

When you cut off something, you’ll miss it so much in the first days or weeks and experience withdrawal symptoms.

That’s normal.

You’re breaking the habit, uprooting the lies and axing the past. So, hang in there till you overcome!

However, be careful not to leave a vacuum when you cut off the negative habits in your life. For every negative habit, you cut off, replace it with a positive habit.

This is the rule; Leave the bad and cleave to the good.

For instance, if your issue is with music, delete the ungodly music and download godly music. If the issue is bad friends, cut them off and get godly friends.

Be stricter to stay away from friends who claim to be Christians but are sexually immoral. According to Paul, have nothing to do with them. (1 Corinthians 5:11) They claim to be Christians but they’re not committed to Christ and are not willing to change their ways.

Remember, bad company corrupts good morals. (1 Corinthians 15:33) We’ll talk more later about the four dangerous Christian friends to avoid and cut off from your life.

Apostle Paul isn’t saying we should not relate with nonbelievers. No. We’ll have to leave the world to do that. He is simply telling us not to join them in their evil ways. That’s the way we become light and salt to them when we refuse to join them in their evil activities.

“Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:4-5)

To leave the sexual stimulators, we need both self-control and self-discipline.

On one hand, we exercise self-control when we avoid negative sexual stimulators, and on the other hand, we exercise self-discipline when we keep steady in doing the right things.

That’s it.

Cut off the bad habit. Replace it with a good habit.

Thank you for reading this article. I welcome your comments and questions – as iron sharpens iron, let’s sharpen each other.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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