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Thoughts

egyprincessegyprincess
edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
i have always wondered and asked, "is thinking of something the same as commited it" like if i think of doing something bad to someone, is it like actually commiting it in the eyes of God? any thoughts or comments would greatly be appreciated

Comments

  • Unknown
    i'm gonna just add to what she said lol
    u know that verse that goes something like if u look at a woman with the meanings of adultery... u have committed it in ur heart... u can tell i'm not up with memorizing ANYTHING from the bible! lol
    anywayz... we were/are all kids at one time, and we all had some kinda lusty desire... does that like count as a sin? i always wondered about that...
  • Mark423Mark423
    Hi,

    Matthew 5:28

    "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

    In this case, when somebody looks at somebody and thinks lustful thoughts, they have committed sin. Since lust is sinful, likewise I would think any other form of sinful thinking has an equal effect. As always, I suggest a second opinion.

    -Mark
  • battatabattata
    sometimes the thought itself is not the sin, but entertaining the thought is.
  • egyprincessegyprincess
    please elaborate
  • battatabattata
    yea, sry bout tha lol....well, we are all human, and we can't help but get evil thoughts...it is part of our nature, but the sin lies wen we entertain the thought...like lets say (and this is a really bad example, but bare wit me) ur at church on sunday praying and u think wow, he/she looks really cute today...n u continue wit tha, like you start thinkin about it more, like wut he or she looks like outside of church or in other clothes or wutever...well sry if im still not clear, but i hope this helps at least a litle, if not i can try and think of a better example
  • Unknown
    Matthew 5:28

    "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."


    then what does that verse mean?
    btw, thanx mark!
  • egyprincessegyprincess
    that sorta make senses battata, but how can we control the thoughts, especially when u dont realize ur doing it or it became a habit.
  • Mark423Mark423
    [quote author=SMS link=board=1;threadid=258;start=0#msg1893 date=1084849018]
    Matthew 5:28

    "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."


    then what does that verse mean?
    btw, thanx mark!


    Anytime.

    What this means is you shouldn’t look to somebody and think lustful thoughts about them. If a male/female looks at an individual while walking down the street and finds them attractive, there isn’t anything wrong with that. However, if they then turn around, look again; make an effort to look at this person because they have become infatuated with their beauty; that is a sin. A similar example is a person you might have class with. To think they are good looking, no problem. On the other hand if you constantly look at them in class, dwell on their physical appearance, and are repeatedly thinking about them during the duration of the class and perhaps in other classes or at home; then you should make an effort to control yourself from looking at them since this initiates lustful thinking. From what I gather, the severity of a sin is meaningless and there aren’t many levels. Thinking lustful thoughts deems the same punishment as acting on them.
  • egyprincessegyprincess
    but that doesnt tell me on how to control them ???
  • Mark423Mark423
    Self discipline would work well. If you find yourself looking at the person, look away. If you find yourself thinking about the person, think of something else. Perhaps recite a prayer. Do anything you have to in order to keep yourself from looking or thinking of this person. Granted it will be difficult initially, but nothing comes easy.
  • egyprincessegyprincess
    i know. i have tried many things, but i keep on falling back into temptation. and its not necessarily lust. u know wat i mean?
  • Mark423Mark423
    Yeah, the thoughts don’t necessarily have to be lustful. I think if all else fails, just keep praying that God helps you. The more you want something, the faster it will come to you. If you keep praying and trying to refrain from thinking about whatever you’re thinking about then you will surely succeed. Like I said before, it won’t come easily because the devil will continuously try to tempt you and he will continue to tempt you even after you have overcome your problem; but if you persevere, you will overcome it faster than you’d think.
  • egyprincessegyprincess
    thankx! ;D ill try harder.
  • Boricua_OrthodoxBoricua_Orthodox
    Christos Anesti!!!

    Egyprincess,

    God bless you for ur honesty! You are very brave in sharing this and asking questions on how to beat this temptation. I applaud you! Why brave? Well, the devil likes to discover our weaknesses and then exploit them to our detriment. We must be careful that we dont fall into his traps. Plus shame is a big factor for many Christians in sharing about certain intimate details about their lives even though everything about us is precious in God's eyes!

    You see, shame isolates us from sharing with God ,others and even with ourselves! We can walk around in denial of many things we have said or done and even attempt to justify them with hollow rationalizations. Thus when we isolate ourselves we open the door for further shame, temptation (to try and numb the pain) and the devil. Guilt is different from shame. Guilt lets u know if u have done something wrong (its part of our conscious) but shame tell us that we are bad people, horrible and do not deserve God's love. So this is why I say that ur a very brave gal in confronting this issue with ur Brothers and sisters in Christ!

    Finally, The Holy Fathers give us many suggestions on how to let Christ grow in us and not be in bondage to this temptation. They suggest lots of prayer,reading the bible and the Holy sacraments are essential! Now you may say that this is nothing new ....u heard this before...but the boom skaka laka to this (lol) is that we look to Christ to empower us! The more he becomes Lord of our lives the more strength we shall have to resist temptation! Not only that! But the shame and guilt will be replaced with peace and love. Conversion is a lifetime thing. We shall experience all 4 seasons many times in our Spiritual lives... it shows that we are alive!
    Look to the Holy Eucharist especially for support...believe you are receiving the Living Christ who is bigger than any problem or sin u may encounter! Read the lives of the saints for advice and inspiration and don't forget to share with your confession father (hopefully he is supportive).

    Anyway, I can never post short shares ...lol!

    P.S. Please pray for this big lustful gamuz..ty!
  • mike_henainmike_henain
    It's so hard though getting rid of thoughts!!!
    What do u think?? O btw, do u have to confess bad thoughts??
    Pray 4 me

    Defender!
  • egyprincessegyprincess
    i have often confessed them and been given the same advice over and over again. but i would either get no result or i would stop for a while and then start again. so....
  • mike_henainmike_henain
    Sometimes I confess them but sometimes ur just not convinced of confessing them because u never did them!! U know wat I mean??

    Defender!
  • egyprincessegyprincess
    i know wat u mean 100%. but we have to keep in mind that is wat the devil wants us to think.
  • mike_henainmike_henain
    ya ur probably right!


    Defender!
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