Yes, share what you see
Submitted by Jules on October 3 2001 14:35:18
In reply to Really need some input on a struggle I'm having submitted by Dakota on October 2 2001 15:35:49
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Hi, Like Forgiven, I agree with the idea of sharing what you look at with Jesus. I've found that inviting him in helps me distinguish between appreciating genuine beauty and a fruitless search for sexual gratification. Inviting him in is one step on the way to inviting others to see as well. (I've not made this second step yet.) Two good questions to ask are "What do I acheive by looking at this?" (maybe the answer is "Nothing"?) and "Would I print this out as a poster for my living room?" Sometimes I neglect these questions and end up wasting time on the fruitless search, but if I remeber, I can usually control what I look at. Another good line of questioning is "What sort of picture am I actually looking for, and why? Will I find it? And what will I do when I've found it?" I've found that I've often wasted time looking for that "perfect" picture, and then when I've found it I delete it because of guilt, and then waste more time looking for something like it again... So I'd say if you find a picture that is just genuinely beautiful, and only so, keep it! Then I'd also say not to worry that you're a pervert or a danger to boys because of this. I'm sure there are many men who spend time searching for pictures of women but who would never go out and rape one, or indeed coerce one. The same is true of boylovers. The danger in real life comes from giving in to the fantasy to the extent that you have no conscience left against doing it in real life. That's the danger to watch. Picture-searching is one step on the downward ladder, but it's nowhere near the last. There is hope! With Christian love, Jules |
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