Every Guy's Struggle. Part 2

Then I did take a chance and started confiding in a couple of close friends. I was really nervous about it at first, but I discovered they were a lot like me: feeling guilty about lust,
yet unable to gain control over it. Throughout the rest of that school year, we occasionally talked about our problems.
Even so, I still struggled. Then something happened during my senior year that gave me hope. After our church's midweek service, I started talking to one of the close friends I'd been confiding in.
Since he'd had problems with Internet porn and masturbation, I asked him how he was doing. He looked at me and said, "Mark, I haven't done any of that in a month." He then began talking about sexual purity, and how he felt
God was helping him make changes in his life. In a few minutes, another guy dropped by the table we were sitting at. Then another and another. Before long, there were six of us talking openly about lust. By the time we'd finished our conversation, I felt like God really could change me! Before our conversation ended, we'd formed an accountability group. The six of us started meeting weekly. We promised to be open and real with each other—and not
share anything we heard with anyone outside the group. We also talked a lot about the importance of not putting ourselves in situations that would cause us to think or do
things we knew were wrong. And when it came to dating, we all agreed that going out with someone who wanted to push the limits was asking for trouble.The discussions—and the accountability—were great. But
there were still times we'd get discouraged over how often
we'd fail."Run Toward God"Around this time an adult leader from the church visited our group. He congratulated us for our courage and our desire to change. Then he told us something that really helped. As best as I can remember, here's some of what he said:
"You need to ask God for forgiveness and then forget about
it. After all, God forgets about it! He has a short memory when it comes to confessed sin. "There will always be sin in our lives, so don't dwell on it. Confess it, then move on and talk about prevention. But don't focus so much on what you shouldn't do. Instead, get rooted in God. Don't just run away from lust. Run toward
God."
Our meetings changed after that. While we continued to talk about our struggles, we also talked more about building a solid relationship with Christ. By drawing closer to Christ, we discovered it was easier to distance ourselves from lustful thinking and actions.To be continued...
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