Category: Sin
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A Prayer of Repentance
Lord God, I am sorry for falling into unchastity today. I’m sorry for not being prayerful enough during times of temptation. I’m sorry for entertaining sexual fantasies about other men and lusting after them. I know this is wrong. These men are my brothers in Christ, not potential lovers. I know that you’ve called me…
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“The Opposite of Homosexuality Isn’t Heterosexuality. It’s Holiness.”
The quote that I used for the title of this blog entry was made by Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus International and the author of the book “Leaving Homosexuality: A Practical Guide for Men and Women Looking for a Way Out.” When I first started dealing with my issues with same-sex attraction, my primary…
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A Reminder of Just How Much I Need God
I learned a very important lesson on Monday about just how much I need God in my life. Earlier in the day, I had fallen into the sin of masturbation because I was feeling kind of insecure about myself. I began experiencing these feelings of insecurity after spending some time over the weekend with a…
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Cultivating Joy
I was reflecting the other day on why I have done little to resist the temptation to fall into sexual sin, and I came to the conclusion that one reason may be that I am not doing enough to cultivate joy in my heart. My relationship with God has grown so cold, so sterile, and…
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More on Focusing on Doing Good
Several weeks ago, I wrote a post on a talk my Courage chaplain gave, in which he talked about the need to focus on doing good rather than simply avoiding evil. I began thinking about this more on Easter Sunday when I was listening to a program on the local Christian radio station. In this…
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Christ is Risen, Alleluia!
Happy Easter, everyone! This is easily my favorite time of the year. We’re finally done with all of the discipline of Lent, and now we get to rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Last night, I attended a very good talk in which the priest asked a very important question: What does it mean…
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Surrendering to God and Learning to Suffer
First of all, let me start by wishing you all a happy Palm Sunday! We are entering the holiest week on the liturgical calendar, and I’m sure that I’m not the only one who finds it emotional to recall the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m finding it much…
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Focusing On Doing Good, Not Just Avoiding Evil
On Tuesday night, our Courage chaplain gave a talk about the need to focus on doing good and performing acts of virtue in the spiritual life, rather than simply focusing on avoiding sin. This was a great topic for me, since I am certainly guilty on overly-focusing on my sins. I am constantly praying for…
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Repent and Believe in the Gospel
Today is Ash Wednesday, the day in which we receive ashes on our foreheads and are told by the Church to “repent and believe in the Gospel.” In addition to being told by the priest to “repent and believe in the Gospel” as he makes the sign of the Cross on our foreheads with ashes,…
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Fighting the Spiritual Battle
Things have continued to be difficult for me over the last several days, particularly in dealing with my temptations to masturbate and have sex with other men. This is part of the spiritual battle, one in which the devil attacks me and tries to get me to act on the temptations that I experience. Like…