Firstly, I want to thank Brett for giving me a podium and his trust. Secondly, I want to thank you for your courage to read anything about the struggles people face with porn and masturbation. This is not a really short story, but perhaps it is a familiar one. I pray that it is as helpful to you to read it as it was for me to write it. I was introduced to masturbation before [...]
so i've devised this friend test that goes like this: brett and bob are friends. brett hurts bob (says something out of line, scratches his car, steals his girlfriend, whateva). bob stops being brett's friend. question 1: was bob really brett's friend? or was he just hanging around while thing were easy and it made him feel good about himself? if the moment something goes wrong, bob disappears, starts ignoring brett, starts bad-mouthing brett, whateva, [...]
imagine this in badly drawn stick figures if you will: God and man (as in mankind/people) in harmonious relationship walking together in the garden, the place of creation, unified in relationship, God somehow receiving something from this engagement with His creation. something happens - man decides to choose self over obedience to God and relationship breaks down - we have the word 'sin' but really it is simply an indication of relationship gone wrong, breakdown [...]