There is a impassable trouble these days that I, a piece of the trouble myself, have noted. It lies in the teenage years of men and it seems to have grown from a titchy tabby to a lethal, looming lion, gobbling up it’s victims.
It is, put simply, the idea that young men can be a man tomorrow. That responsibility, wisdom, work-ethic, and excellence… well you’ll get them later. Maybe after you have sex, or get married, or settle down. Maybe it comes after puberty or your first paycheck. I say,
“Pish-posh and codswallop.”
These things are grown as any habit and skill and certainly not as the hair grows on your chest. But this lie, that good quality comes with time, is absurd! What comes with time is regret, shame, guilt and the ability to look back on your life and say, “Dear God, it’s a massacre down there.”
This is what makes the past so vitally important, not the nostalgia, though it isn’t bad by any means. The ability, as a (young) man, to notice that, especially nowadays, you really suck at being a (young) man!
I would like to see the thought of 700 hours spent on a game in the X-box forum to be a prideful one as you live your last hours. Impregnating that girl you liked before dumping her– the abortion isn’t your problem– is that truly a life worth living? If you find pride in those things, you are a fool, taking joy in what goes down the gullet like poison in the veins.
Because of this issue, one of which I have stumbled into many times, we young men grow into adult men and then, if we ever see them, teach our children to do the same. A world of pithy, puny boys in men’s bodies, hurting women, spitting at God, ruining ourselves because we bear sickly little fruits, as sickly little trees. Things of this sort, are a hill I do not wish to die on, I would consider it dirt lumps at best. Man upon man in the same bed, destruction and infidelity. It all goes to the pigs and the same as temptation: you best stop it before it enters the room.
And so, that said, it’s time for a quick logical equation:
If you gain nothing from pornography, social media, V-chats and other worthless digital trepidations then it can be concluded that you should stop and do so with haste. Let’s spell out your losses:
Depression.
Loss of motivation.
Eternal burning in Hell.
Loss of the meaning of life.
Loss of joy.
Dopamine deficit brain causing hazardous results.
Hate of one’s self.
Self-doubt.
Selfishness.
Tendency of cranky and dissatisfied outbursts.
Guilt and shame to the point of suicidal thoughts.
Enslaved by your own ruinous mind.
And if indeed you GAIN nothing from this, aside from the theological stance, you are digging yourself into a net-loss scenario. Not only do you gain nothing, you LOSE much more.
Let us then go through what you gain from a disciplined life free from above temptations and distractions:
Joy and freedom unequalled.
Eternity rejoicing in heaven.
Motivation and determination.
Dreams realized and aptly achieved.
A body worth love, created by and maintained for God.
A healthy, dopaminergic brain.
Pardoned from guilt and shame through the forgiving arms of Jesus Christ.
Selflessness.
Confidence.
Regained meaning of life understood.
Caring, kind and imbued with the fruits of the Spirit.
Happy, if nothing else.
Healthy, wealthy and wise.
Strong and courageous.
Marry-able quality.
Proud of one’s self.
And the list goes ever on, of which I have neither the time nor pay, still, the point remains. What has sin produced in your life but a blinding burden you needlessly carry? Satan, as he prowls, has no grip so you will not be left behind on the redemption day, likewise you will experience a life fuller than you could ever know!
So, let us once more, go through this logically. If there a no net benefits from sinning but plenty of losses, inversely, there are no net losses if you don’t and plenty of benefits, how then is the answer unclear? Either, you are unable to see, retarded or of a particular stock of stubbornness. As I see it, and I vaguely do, there is one answer:
Plain, simple, fairly understood:
Stop sinning.
Hard to comprehend isn’t it? The mere idea that sin, as it lays, can be conquered and feasibly at that, may seem like a bag of bamboozlement, but it’s true. Very true.
And so, though the idea of never sinning is impossible as 1 coming from 0 or something from nothing. I can confidently say that the idea of abstaining from sin with all the determination HUMANLY possible, is possible, but it takes discipline, wisdom and the harbinger of both: humility.
We shall go through the first next time. Until then, a few nice quotes will have to do,
“Before honor is humility.” – Proverbs 15: 33
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates
“Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” Abraham Lincoln
Don’t be a little boy in a man’s body. That’s all I ask.