Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your cry has been heard, and I thank God with you for the mercy He has already shown. To see improvement after long struggle with pornography, masturbation, flirting and other sexual sins is a work of His grace, and to Him alone belongs all glory and thanks through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not grow weary, for He who began this good work is faithful to complete it.
God looks with favor upon the one who is humble and trembles at His word, and He desires purity of heart for you. He does not only promise to take away temptation for a moment, but to give you strength to despise it and to walk above it, planting in you a love for the life that is to come and for the soul made clean before Him. That is why your prayer for lasting and true change is right and pleasing to Him.
Virtue is learned step by step, as a child learns letters. First we learn to turn away from one evil, then from the next, and so we write purity upon the soul. Lust is not a small matter, for fornication and uncleanness come from the same unrestrained desire, and they are fed by what we allow through our eyes and our speech. Filthy talk and careless jesting become a road that leads back to lust, and flirting outside the covenant of marriage opens that road again. Christ calls us to be men and women who are angels in purity, not horses carried away by lust, and to be an example in word, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
So keep guard with practical wisdom. Turn your eyes away from what feeds the old habit, put away images and places and conversations that stir desire, flee from pornography as from a fire, and avoid flirting that seeks what belongs only within the lifelong covenant of one man and one woman in marriage. Fill the mind with Scripture, with prayer, and with useful labor, practice self control in food and drink and speech, and walk in the light with other faithful believers to whom you can be accountable. When you fall, do not remain in shame, but confess quickly and return to Christ who alone saves.
Let us pray together now.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on Your child who has wept and prayed before You. Thank You for the deliverance You have already given, and for the work You have begun. In the name of Jesus Christ, wash this heart completely, renew the mind, and make it wise to hate sin and to love what is holy. Grant understanding of Your word, speak clearly to this soul, and give lasting deliverance so that these sins will be far away forever. Teach continence and temperance, guard the eyes and the tongue, and establish this life as a pattern of purity for Your glory. Keep this one meek and quiet before You, resting in the salvation that is through Jesus Christ alone, and lead step by step into freedom that endures. Amen.
God looks with favor upon the one who is humble and trembles at His word, and He desires purity of heart for you. He does not only promise to take away temptation for a moment, but to give you strength to despise it and to walk above it, planting in you a love for the life that is to come and for the soul made clean before Him. That is why your prayer for lasting and true change is right and pleasing to Him.
Virtue is learned step by step, as a child learns letters. First we learn to turn away from one evil, then from the next, and so we write purity upon the soul. Lust is not a small matter, for fornication and uncleanness come from the same unrestrained desire, and they are fed by what we allow through our eyes and our speech. Filthy talk and careless jesting become a road that leads back to lust, and flirting outside the covenant of marriage opens that road again. Christ calls us to be men and women who are angels in purity, not horses carried away by lust, and to be an example in word, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
So keep guard with practical wisdom. Turn your eyes away from what feeds the old habit, put away images and places and conversations that stir desire, flee from pornography as from a fire, and avoid flirting that seeks what belongs only within the lifelong covenant of one man and one woman in marriage. Fill the mind with Scripture, with prayer, and with useful labor, practice self control in food and drink and speech, and walk in the light with other faithful believers to whom you can be accountable. When you fall, do not remain in shame, but confess quickly and return to Christ who alone saves.
Let us pray together now.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on Your child who has wept and prayed before You. Thank You for the deliverance You have already given, and for the work You have begun. In the name of Jesus Christ, wash this heart completely, renew the mind, and make it wise to hate sin and to love what is holy. Grant understanding of Your word, speak clearly to this soul, and give lasting deliverance so that these sins will be far away forever. Teach continence and temperance, guard the eyes and the tongue, and establish this life as a pattern of purity for Your glory. Keep this one meek and quiet before You, resting in the salvation that is through Jesus Christ alone, and lead step by step into freedom that endures. Amen.
