/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>>794664

"Nofap" is idiotic. You don't evade a recurring sin by counting everyday how many days you haven't done it. It is tempting yourself, as well as relying on your own works to reach holiness.

Live every day as if it were the last. Burn with love for the whole creation, including yourself. Remain watchful - what would you do if Christ returned today? And even if He did not, what would you do if you died today, and therefore saw your fate sealed until Christ's return anyway?

It is only by relying on God's grace and keeping your eyes on Christ that you can escape the sorrows of this world. Worrying excessively is not the path to salvation. The whole book of Ecclesiastes is about this, but Christ puts it succintly:

>Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Now, this being said, you should read this so that you come to repentance rather than self-pity: https://www.reddit.com/r/OrthodoxChristianity/comments/b5eig6/the_difference_between_repentance_and_guilt/

And, if you do not read the Bible everyday, I recommend you do. Obviously your own disposition matters, but if you read prayerfully and with love for Christ, it should keep you grounded in reality to some degree at the very least, so that even if you cut yourself off from the Kingdom of God by losing sight of the Way, at least you can reach out to it through the scriptures which reveal it to us.

>>794689

I don't know what Protestants think, nor do I really care. I'm not a Protestant.

Obssessing over not doing X sin is idiotic, yes. We are freed from sin when we are in Christ. If you need to nibble away at your sins, one by one, slowly and painfully, you have not found freedom in Christ yet, but are using your own works (which can help, especially for a neophyte, but considering how trad people are here, I doubt you are a catechumen or fresh convert).

Do you want to be freed from those passions that eat away at your soul? Pray, contemplate God in prayer and in nature, read the scriptures often and meditate on them, pay attention at church and receive communion often. Give alms and fast to the degree you can, following your church's calendar. If you keep your gaze on Christ, you will eventually be unable to look away, and you will burn with love for the whole creation.

Not that I claim this is something that you cannot fall away from, but it is far more efficient than painfully trying to remove your own passions with our own regular continuous effort. Anyone can do that, Christian or not. True Christian ascesis is not this kind of exercise, but rather humiliating the body in all things so that it can be closer to Christ and remember that its true sustenance is not earthly food but spiritual food.

>>794689

Also I don't know what you mean by "carpe diem" but "live every day as if it were the last" is literally what Ecclesiastes is about. Living with moderation, not expecting to either be an incredible saint or an evil tyrant, just appreciating what God puts in front of you, striving for the acquisition of Wisdom, and enjoying the fruits of your labors here and now. Making ambitious plans for the future is not good, nor is it good to dwell on the past, because your experience of God is happening here and now, and you will miss it otherwise. And, of course, per both Ecclesiastes and the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sirach, we know that death is at the corner at all times, and it is not good to forget this looming threat which could come unexpectedly. I do not say "let us eat and drink because tomorrow we will die", but "let us seek to put on Christ here and now because we could die today".

Don't we already have a sticky for this?

heh heh … sticky

>>794661

You DO have a father, the very BEST father who is in heaven. Your affliction is what is telling you that you need him, so take heart, your affliction is your compass.

>And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

>2 Corinthians 9:9-10

>>794664

/pol/ gets regularly hit by porn shills because its pretty much ground-zero for right-wing memes and far-right grassroots movements, so they attract most of the enemy's arsenal. You are not ready to go to those places while struggling with nofap. Heck, even though I'm 2 years into nofap now, I'm still VERY cautious with hopping on /pol/, and when I do go there I am adamant about getting out very quickly.

>>794689

>Carpe Diem

We Christians believe one should seize the day, we just have a different opinion on what is worth seizing in a day. Lay hold of spiritual goods, which can transcend death, rather than seizing buckets of worms and rust. A day is coming when you will lay on your deathbed, remember that when you think of sin if you are weak in faith. Remember that in that day you will judge yourself with great severity, that you will groan to remember all the greedy attachments of the body you are soon to depart. There is no-one to run to except Christ.

>>794661

Gird up thy loins and be a man. for our Lord will make demands of you.

>>794663

I don't think he is groveling. He's asking for help.