Can one ever be rid of a "naughty" desire and how? Or must it forever be suppres

1. 60

   ravenlt04posted 10 years ago

   Can one ever be rid of a "naughty" desire and how? Or must it forever be suppressed?

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2. 77

   wba108@yahoo.composted 10 years ago

   Certainly you can, to deny this would be to deny God and His word. The scriptures declare that we're "new creatures" and that "His divine power has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness. So the fact is that when you accepted Jesus you acquired a "new nature". You're no longer a sinner, you're a saint who may occasionally sin.
   
   Now this doesn't mean that all our evil desires will just disappear when we get saved. There is a process that we must submit to in which we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
   
   Romans 12:2 says ""Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but (be transformed by the renewing of your mind). Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will"
   
   The renewing of the mind actually takes place with true repentance, which actually involves seeing things the way God see's them. As we break our agreement with our old sinful habits and make a new agreement with God, the power of our old sinful habits are broken and godliness is formed in us.

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3. 85

   M. T. Dremerposted 10 years ago

   I assume you're talking about lust. And, let me start by saying that suppressing anything can lead to problems later on. It's why a lot of people on diets break down and gorge themselves on bad food. Or conservative politicians end up in sex scandals. Vehement opposition of natural desires is going to transition to resentment and frustration. Which, in turn can lead to more damaging things.
   
   I'm not suggesting one should give into every lusty desire, but these things are biological. Using hunger again, those who deny themselves too much end up with an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia. On the other end of the spectrum there are people who over eat or have a food addiction which leads to heart disease and diabetes, to name a few. Each individual must find a healthy medium and it's no different for lust than it is hunger.

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4. 72

   lone77starposted 10 years ago

   Yes!
   
   Suppressing anything is the wrong approach. Hiding it only lets it fester and grow worse.
   
   You have to shine a light on the feeling (figuratively). You have to practice letting go of attachments. You can start small, like giving up your prized baseball card collection or donating some of your hard-earned cash anonymously to a homeless shelter or something similar. Being anonymous is essential, otherwise Ego starts getting rowdy. And Ego is the source of the problem, whatever it is.
   
   A big part of the human problem is attachments. We also view these as "importances."
   
   These are all functions of ego -- immersion in things and separating from others. Separation is the original problem. Love is the solution.
   
   Ego is the source of all evil. Humility is the antidote.
   
   Another way to practice letting go of attachments is to practice forbearance -- forgiveness in advance of a perceived injustice. Even forgiveness itself is good to practice in this regard. Letting go of resentment is very cathartic. But it has to be complete. You can't merely pay lip service to forgiving. In other words, saying, "I forgive, but I can't forget," is essentially saying, "I don't know what forgiveness is."
   
   Once you've practiced letting go of all manner of attachments, then look again at the "naughty" desire. It will seem different -- less real. In your mind, place it on the other side of the universe, not to suppress it, but to merely feel the distance and the lingering hunger. Now, let go of the lingering hunger. Look at that feeling as a separate artifact in your mind. Unplug it. Thank it for its service and dismiss it.
   
   These are merely some of the techniques you can use to dissolve such a desire.
   
   Ultimately, the best way, once you've unburdened such a feeling, is to spot the Truth of it. Once you do this, the artifact (desire) vanishes. But as a creator, you can always create it again. So, the decision has to be entirely unselfish, otherwise there's a tendency to create it again. In other words, leave Ego entirely out of it.
   
   Everything that persists in this universe was at one time created. By addressing (viewing it in its entirety) the Truth of something, you are returning it to its instantaneity of creation. As Yeshua said, know the Truth and the Truth will set you free. Once an object no longer has persistence in the time stream, your next moment will move you past the instantaneity of the artifact and you will see it no more.

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5. 69

   Zandra Mullinsposted 7 years ago

   Thoughts, desires, wants -- these are manifestations, without the restraints of good or evil.  They are neutral, tainted only as "good," "bad," or "naughty" by the societal preconceptions we already have.  Furthermore, thoughts and unconventional desires are only human -- we mustn't even try to suppress them because they'll continue to race, and twice as badly.  We must simply acknowledge them as vague manifestations in our coding and give it no more thought than that.

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