Struggling With Lust? Watch This.

Summary

The transcript discusses the battle against lust and the importance of personal responsibility. It condemns blaming others, especially women, for one's own lustful feelings, drawing a parallel to Adam's excuse in the Bible. The speaker emphasizes the need for self-reflection and recognizing the lack of love that turns individuals into objects of lust. The dangers of pornography are highlighted as a modern form of temptation, reducing women to mere objects of desire. St. Isaac the Syrian's advice is shared, urging individuals to voluntarily avoid temptation to prevent becoming slaves to sin.

Takeaways

• 🤔 The battle against lust requires self-reflection and understanding of our feelings and actions.
• 🚫 Blaming external factors like the way women dress for one's lust is an excuse and a reflection of a lack of self-control.
• 🙅‍♂️ It's crucial to take responsibility for our own lustful thoughts and not to project blame onto others.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Comparing the way we view strangers to how we view our mothers, sisters, and daughters can reveal our true feelings and biases.
• 💔 Lust and passion can stem from a lack of love and respect for others, which is essential to recognize and change.
• 🧘‍♂️ Repentance and a change in heart are necessary to overcome lustful thoughts and behaviors.
• 🚫 Pornography is described as an evil that fuels lust and reduces women to objects, which is against the love and respect they deserve.
• 🛡 St. Isaac the Syrian advises that avoiding temptation voluntarily is essential to not becoming a slave to sin.
• 🔗 The connection between lust and sin is emphasized, with the warning that failing to resist can lead to enslavement to evil.
• ✂️ Temptation must be cut off at the root, and we must choose to deny ourselves the things that stir up passion.

Q & A

What is the main issue discussed in the script?

The script discusses the issue of lust and the importance of taking personal responsibility for one's actions and feelings, rather than blaming external factors.

Why does the script mention Adam's excuse for his sin?

The script references Adam's excuse to illustrate how people often blame others for their own lustful feelings, rather than taking responsibility for their actions.

What is the significance of the script's emphasis on not blaming others for one's lust?

The emphasis on not blaming others highlights the need for self-reflection and personal accountability in managing one's desires and temptations.

How does the script suggest we should view our family members in relation to lustful feelings?

The script suggests that we should not experience lustful feelings towards family members because we love them genuinely, and this love should be the standard for how we feel towards all people.

What does the script imply about the nature of love when it comes to lustful feelings?

The script implies that true love is absent when lustful feelings are present, as love would not reduce a person to an object of desire.

Why does the script mention pornography as 'the iconography of the devil'?

The script refers to pornography as 'the iconography of the devil' to emphasize its harmful effects, stating that it fuels evil, lust, and reduces human beings to objects of desire.

What advice does St. Isaac the Syrian offer regarding temptation?

St. Isaac the Syrian advises that one must voluntarily withdraw from sources of temptation to avoid becoming a slave to sin.

What does the script suggest is the consequence of not denying oneself temptation?

The script suggests that if one does not voluntarily deny oneself temptation, they will involuntarily become a slave to sin and be captured by evil.

How does the script define the role of love in resisting lustful feelings?

The script defines love as a force that should prevent lustful feelings, as it involves genuine care and respect for others, rather than objectification.

What is the script's overall message regarding the battle against lust?

The overall message is that individuals must take responsibility for their feelings, resist temptation by denying themselves, and cultivate love in their hearts to overcome lust.

Outlines

00:00

🔥 Tackling Lust and Personal Responsibility

The paragraph discusses the internal battle against lust and the importance of personal responsibility. It criticizes the tendency to blame external factors, such as women's clothing, for one's lustful thoughts, drawing a parallel to Adam's blame of Eve in the Bible. The speaker emphasizes the need for self-reflection and the acknowledgment of one's own sins. It challenges the listener to consider their feelings towards family members versus strangers and suggests that lust is a result of a lack of love. The paragraph concludes with a call to repentance and a change of heart, advocating for a loving attitude towards all people.

Keywords

💡Lust

Lust refers to a strong sexual desire or appetite, often portrayed as a force that can lead individuals astray from moral or ethical standards. In the video's context, lust is depicted as a battle that individuals must fight against, emphasizing the need for self-control and reflection to prevent it from overpowering one's actions. The script mentions how people often excuse their lust by blaming external factors, such as the way women dress, rather than taking personal responsibility for their feelings and actions.

💡Passion

Passion, in this script, is used to describe intense emotions or desires, particularly those of a sexual nature. It is closely related to lust but can also encompass a broader range of strong feelings. The video discusses how passion, when not properly managed, can lead to negative outcomes, such as objectification and the loss of love and respect for others.

💡Responsibility

Responsibility is a central theme in the video, emphasizing the individual's duty to own up to their actions and feelings. It is highlighted as a key aspect of overcoming lust and passion, as individuals are encouraged to take responsibility for their reactions rather than blaming external factors or others. The script uses the example of Adam from the Bible to illustrate the avoidance of responsibility and contrasts it with the need for self-accountability.

💡Confession

Confession, within the context of the video, is a religious practice where individuals admit their sins to seek forgiveness and spiritual cleansing. The script stresses that confession should be about personal sins, not the sins of others, and uses this concept to underscore the importance of self-reflection and honesty in addressing one's own lustful thoughts and actions.

💡Love

Love, as discussed in the video, is presented as a powerful emotion that can counteract lust and passion. It is depicted as a positive, nurturing force that fosters respect and care for others. The script contrasts love with lust, suggesting that true love involves a deep respect for the dignity of others, whereas lust objectifies and degrades.

💡Objectification

Objectification is the act of treating a person as an object, often in a sexual context, which strips them of their humanity and reduces them to mere instruments for someone else's pleasure. The video criticizes this practice, particularly in relation to how lust can lead to the objectification of women, and calls for a change in perspective to see people as individuals deserving of respect and love.

💡Repentance

Repentance is the act of feeling deep regret for one's wrongs and seeking to make amends. In the video, repentance is discussed as a necessary step for individuals who recognize their lustful thoughts and actions as harmful. It involves not only acknowledging the wrongdoing but also committing to change one's behavior and mindset.

💡Temptation

Temptation is portrayed as an external influence or internal urge that can lead individuals to act against their values or beliefs. The video discusses the importance of recognizing and resisting temptation, particularly in the context of lust, by consciously choosing to avoid situations or stimuli that may provoke it.

💡Self-denial

Self-denial refers to the act of restraining oneself from indulging in desires or pleasures, often for moral, religious, or personal growth reasons. The script encourages self-denial as a means to combat lust and passion, suggesting that by choosing to deny oneself the immediate gratification of lustful thoughts and actions, one can gain greater self-control and spiritual strength.

💡Pornography

Pornography is mentioned in the video as a significant contemporary source of temptation that fuels lust and passion. It is criticized for its objectifying nature and its potential to desensitize individuals to the humanity and dignity of others. The video calls for individuals to voluntarily withdraw from such sources of temptation to avoid becoming slaves to sin.

💡St. Isaac the Syrian

St. Isaac the Syrian is a revered Christian saint known for his spiritual wisdom. In the video, his teachings are invoked to emphasize the importance of voluntary withdrawal from temptation to avoid becoming enslaved by sin. His words serve as a cautionary reminder of the consequences of not addressing and resisting lustful temptations.

Highlights

The importance of self-reflection in the battle against lust.

The need to take personal responsibility for one's lustful feelings.

The common excuse of blaming others for one's lustful desires.

The biblical reference to Adam blaming Eve for sin.

The significance of confessing one's own sins rather than those of others.

The distinction between feelings towards family members and strangers in lustful thoughts.

The role of love in preventing lustful feelings towards loved ones.

The lack of love as a cause for objectifying others through lust.

The necessity of repentance and recognizing unloving hearts.

The call to change how one feels towards everyone to cultivate love.

The influence of pornography as a modern temptation and its negative effects.

The characterization of pornography as the 'iconography of the devil'.

The impact of pornography on reducing women to objects of desire.

The teachings of St. Isaac the Syrian on voluntary withdrawal from temptation.

The consequences of not denying oneself temptation, leading to enslavement by sin.

The advice to cut off temptations at the root to prevent their growth.

Transcripts

in the battles with the passion of lust

there are a number of strategies a

number of ways we need to think if our

battle is to be

successful we need to reflect on

ourselves and what it is we're really

feeling what we're allowing to grow

within us and what it is we're

doing many times people will excuse

their lust their

Passion by blaming blaming the women

that they see in the street oh they wear

clothes that are so different to the

past they dress inappropriately it's the

summer time look how they're

dressing do we not hear in this excuse

the voice of Adam when he said the woman

that you gave me she led me to

sin we must take

responsibility for our lust for our

passion for the things that we do we

cannot go blaming others when we confess

we're told never to confess the sins of

others it is always our own sins that we

confess confess so what kind of

confession is this when we say but it's

their fault look how they

dress and we must ask

ourselves if my mother my sister my

daughter were to dress in this way would

it evoke these kinds of passions within

me hopefully most people would respond

of course not why then because already

we feel differently towards these women

than the women that we are allowing lust

and the passion to overcome us towards

why because we love these people we love

these people truly our sisters our

mothers our daughters we already carry

in our hearts love for them and when we

allow

lust to overcome us towards some

stranger or even somebody we know then

it is a lack of love in our hearts we

must

recognize it is a complete lack of love

to turn somebody into the object of our

lust and we must repent of this

recognize that our hearts are

unloving we need to change how we feel

how we feel towards everyone how it is

that our hearts are experiencing other

people is it love that we are allowing

to grow within us is it the love of

Christ or is it something more something

different and are we feeding are we

feeding this lust on this

passion nowadays of course many young

men feel they are

trapped by pornography it's so

available and pornography of course as a

number of recent fathers have said is

the the iconography of the devil it is

the iconography of the devil it is

evil and it fuels evil within us it

fuels the passions it fuels

lust it reduces all women in our mind

and our heart

to to something that gratifies our

feelings it reduces women in this way

human beings made in the image of God

are then

reduced to something that will satisfy

our

desires again this is

evil St Isaac the syan says to us

whoever does not voluntary

whoever does not voluntary withdraw

himself from the sources of

Temptation will involuntary become the

slave of sin will be captured and take

away by sin he

says so let us look at what St Syrian St

Isaac the Syrian is saying here that if

we do not voluntarily if we do not

choose to deny ourselves to turn away

from those things we know stir up the

passion within us then involuntarily

against our

choice we will be dragged Away by sin we

will become slaves of

sin we will be captured we will become

Servants of

evil we will find ourselves incapable of

resisting sin because we will become the

slave of

sin so we must first as with all

Temptations which must be cut off at the

root before they begin to

grow must voluntarily we must choose to

deny ourselves to reject those things

that fuel temptation