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SSA advice and perspective wanted!

For Fapstronauts who are disciples of Christ

  1. renarin

    renarin Fapstronaut

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    Hey! I could really use some good Christian perspective and motivation. My issues aren’t obvious sins or addictions so I have trouble seeing the sin or the harm. I feel guilty about stuff, but I struggle with religious OCD (scrupulosity) so I’ve felt guilty about lots of stuff I didn’t need to. I have trouble discerning between the Holy Spirit and my out-of-balance condemning conscience. I know lust for what it is, but there’s a lot of stuff I wouldn’t call lust by Jesus’ definition, because I’m not imagining any sexual acts. I’m not firmly on one side or the other regarding MO; I’m basically on permanent low-key hard mode, but lack the motivation to stick with super-long streaks because giving in occasionally doesn’t seem like a huge deal when done without P or lust (which I generally think I manage, unless looking in the mirror counts.)
    TRIGGER WARNING: may be mildly triggering for anyone with same-sex attraction, but not graphic or detailed.

    I’ve struggled with SSA my whole life, but never identified myself as gay or even really wanted any sort of gay sexual experience (except for an occasional fantasy of temptation). I think my SSA kind of got programmed into me through a combination of a distant father and anxiety/OCD. My dad was emotionally uninvolved and didn’t know how to show affection, and at the same time kind of generally disapproving. I’m a Christian so I always heard the message growing up that lust and porn are bad and I shouldn’t look at girls, so my OCD just kind of blocked it. But it didn’t do the same with looking at other guys, so that’s where all my puberty-fueled sexual energy went. Although there was plenty of guilt about that and MO too later, but I think by the time my anxiety latched onto it the programming was already too deep.
    I never really saw what most people would call porn more than a handful of times, my downfall was speedos and similar underwear, both on others and myself. So through my teen years I used that kind of stuff same as P, with MO. But I still wanted to get married and have a family.
    So I did. I thought I had a great marriage, had 4 kids, lasted 14.5 years, she knew about my SSA and liked seeing me in sexy underwear,and then divorced me last fall (2020, another reason that year sucks). Idon’t think my SSA really had anything to do with her wanting the divorce. I can expand on that if anyone’s curious. We had a good sex life, after we got married I stoppedMO almost entirely, and even when I did it was never at the same time as I was looking at anything. But at the same time I couldn’t shake the SSA or vanity, I really enjoyed how I looked in different things and went a little overboard in that direction with exotic underwear and stuff (for the most part it was for her admiration, but there was a good amount she didn’t really care for).
    I’m on this forum because I’m worried I’m addicted to myself, at this point, in the sense of physical vanity. I’m hoping to get some perspective and input. But it’s not very easy to seebecause it’s atypical. I’ve been celibate for about 8 months now, with only occasional MO, and neverlooking at anything at the same time as MO, I threw out all of the underwear that anyone would think was weird, for a while went to only boxer briefs. The only time I look at anything is shopping online, and it’s never to MO, although I’ve got to be honest even if I don’t get aroused it still kind of puts some fuel in the tank. After a few months though I bought back a few tamer things like CK briefs and speedos. I like to wear speedos or short square cuts to swim, or short and/or skintight shorts to run and bike. It’s not really about being seen, although I kind of fantasize about finding another guy to wear similar things with (not sure that would end well, unless he had nearly the same values as me), in general I avoid being seen, at least close-up.
    I’m trying to figure out if I have an addiction, although it’s not the same as the usual. It’s all mixed up with loneliness and SSA and craving male friends who maybe could show non-sexual physical affection. Even while I was married there was still the void there. Even though I don’t fantasize about physical acts with guys I look at them all the time, I wish I could goswimming or play volleyball with other guys in Speedo’s, or even wrestle (not necessarily in speedos, that’s probably a bad idea). Or even go skinny-dipping, again nothing farther. But only of course with relativelyattractive, fit guys.
    It affects how I relate to guys, although I have good friends none of them are in that attractive/fit category, and I’m always kind of obsessing about finding one. I’m also a bit obsessive about opportunities to swim in my speedos or just be outside in as brief clothing as possible (without terribly offending someone).
    I do notice that when I get positive male interaction, when one of my friends shows they value me in some way, that the sexual component diminishes. But it’s always too little at a time. And guys in America are way too scared to show physical affection, which is my primary love language.
    If you got this far, thanks for reading, and you’re welcome to give input. I’m trying to figure out if I need to do a reboot on the clothes I wear, and deal with this vanity. It’s scary though, I’ve realized that my body and the way I look is one of the few things I like about myself. (Although I know intellectually I’m pretty likeable and have good friends, it’s hard to internalize that on a heart level, especially dealing with the rejection of divorce.)

    Specifically regarding what I wear, I’m torn between throwing it all out and viewing it as OCD exposure therapy, trying to desexualize it through wearing it in appropriate settings without MO. Another factor is with OCD if I threw out stuff, I could easily just move to obsessing about the mirror, or regular boxer briefs, or not being able to go without a shirt. Do I then cover all the mirrors in the house? Never take my shirt off?
    I do plan to find a therapist to talk to about this (and any suggestions on finding a Christian one in the right field would be appreciated) but they all seem to have a long waiting list, and I’ve also found some of them seem to be limited on the spiritual advice they’re willing to give because of professional training. Not to mention it can be tricky to find even a “Christian” therapist who wont just tell me it’s ok to be gay or bi or whatever.
     
    Samfi likes this.
  2. All sin boils down to pride -- choosing self and our way over God and his. Vanity is just a form of pride; indeed, it is often used as a synonym for the term!

    The sin that we seek to avoid is lust. Whatever we have in focus when we engage in sexual activity (or "put some fuel in the tank" as you say), if it is not a spouse, is the object of our lust. Looking in the mirror definitely counts as lust! This desire is bent and broken, and can never truly satisfy. All the time we spend on feeding it is wasted, and the harm we do to ourselves is very real. PMO isolates us from real relationship and weakens our ability to connect and our capacity for real love. These fantasies you have about non-sexual physical intimacy and skinny dipping and all that -- these will never lead you anywhere good.

    Good looks are usually the first thing to go as we get older, so you need to find something more enduring to attach your worth to. I would recommend giving up on the idea of how you think or feel about yourself and trade all that in for how God views you. His view is far more accurate than ours can even be. When we learn our identity in him, we begin to learn about our true selves.

    If we seek to be his disciples, we must become less in our own eyes and he must become more. We must regard ourselves less often and look to him more. In your case, this may be an actual, physical looking away. Many here have decided to limit their screen time to help stay free from PMO; perhaps you will be led to limit your "mirror time"!

    I'm glad you reached out, and I hope you will find the peace and freedom and joy you seek. These can all be found in Christ. I do not think they exist anywhere else!
     
    Myfortress and vxlccm like this.
  3. vxlccm

    vxlccm Fapstronaut

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    Great observation. I think you'll be able to keep working on this and place your valuations in a way that is more in line with your conscience. There may be trauma in your past with affirmations not received from a father figure or male role models, which Dobson has pointed out is one factor that drives males into a 'fixable' state of same-sex attraction. So, keep pursuing those positive interactions in a godly manner :)

    I'm confident you can also teach yourself how to value traits about yourself that aren't rooted in vanity! Doing things for other people and taking stock of that has helped me immensely. Think charity. Re-read those scriptures. Let's keep looking to dial up our actions which express attributes of Christ.

    There are other Christians here who you can enjoy kinship with, so stick around!
     
    Myfortress and Tao Jones like this.
  4. Brother
    You have just been through a divorce. I am sorry. I have been there and it is painful. You need to grieve this loss. Do you have a good church family or small group? If not, look for a church hosting a divorce recovery group. It is my humble opinion that you need to shut down the fantasies about doing things with fit guys, this can be dangerous ground. Lastly, work on getting the focus off of yourself. The Christian life is all about discovering how God wants to use you to help others. As you grieve and heal from this trauma, think of ways you can help others in the same situation. I have mild OCD as does my son. I don't think it is all bad. I think the enemy wants to make it bad but God wants to use it for good. You can become, "obsessed with serving Christ" so to speak. I also use it to become intensely focused and passionate about my job. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
     
    CPilot, Vir and Tao Jones like this.
  5. CPilot

    CPilot Fapstronaut

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    Love of Christ, aka Christianity, is about happiness, true lasting happiness. We are animals and just like animals we have some selfish desires in our brains. However, I can't think of anyone, not a single person who built a life of lasting joy by following his or her selfish desires. Recently, we see that even Bill Gates (now undergoing divorce), with all his money and intellect failed to find lasting happiness on earth. The only people whom I sense found true lasting joy on earth and beyond are the saints. Mother Theresa was an incredibly happy person even though she lived her life surrounded by suffering.

    Sainthood is not easy but then nothing worthwhile is. Nevertheless, the path is not a complicated one. Begin by recognizing God is our Father. A perfect loving Father who wants us to be happy and whose judgment is perfect. He showed us the way and be assured when we choose a way we know He doesn't want for us, we aren't headed for happiness.
     
    Tao Jones likes this.

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