Learning From Sin: Lies About Sexuality: Service and Humiliation vs. Service and Humility

Humility and service to others are deeply written onto our hearts because it is God's will.  We ought to live in humble service to God and to each other.  Seeing Christ in others and then offering ourselves to others is a fundamental part of the four Gospels.

This is why service and humiliation within a BDSM context are so easily sought, especially within fantasy.  It is easy for the mind to say that there is no harm in these kinds of fantasies or actions because they are a direct perversion of service and humility.  It is no wonder that BDSM grabs hold of people within the context of fantasy. For someone who has shut out God or who is confused and not actively focused on God, service and humiliation are made to feel right by the twisting of the world, the flesh, and the evil one.  It is humble service to God and to others that the soul truly seeks.

Just as food is not a sin but gluttony is, service taken into the wrong context confuses a wandering soul.  Unfortunately for many, wandering souls truly seek God, but stumble upon evil that appears to be good.  Evil is seductive.  It rarely jumps up and down, proclaiming itself for what it truly is.

I praise and thank God for showing me why my own sins were able to hold me hostage for so long.  Now I must put this knowledge to good use, making sure I am serving him and serving others.  Knowledge is the first step.  Action must follow.  I will continue to write about this journey for many reasons.  One reason is that I feel called to do so.  Another is that this message must be heard.  Sexual perversion within the world of fantasy and within the world of BDSM exists for a reason.  It isn't evil for the sake of evil.  It is a twisting of one of our most intimate threads of a human fabric.  God created us as sexual beings, and praise be to him for doing so!  He is wise indeed!  He is a creative creator who gave us such a wonderful gift in our sexuality.

Sexuality, in my opinion, draws many people away from God because God desires intimacy with us.  Intimacy and all of its mysterious ways is what we desire.  Intimacy with God and intimacy with others.  False intimacy is destructive, but we can't see its destructiveness until we are removed from it, as is the case of someone who has committed sexual sins but later returns to Jesus.  Because of the private nature of sexual sins, we must always pray for those who have wandered away from Christ in this way.  People don't feel comfortable talking about sexual sins.

I don't feel comfortable writing about my own sexual sins, but I feel that I must because there are so, so many who are sinning in this private way behind closed doors.  The doors may be the doors of their houses, but so many times it is behind the closed doors of their minds.  The mind is both a spiritual haven and a spiritual battle ground.  Prayer is an effective weapon because the Holy Spirit uses prayer to open the doors and windows of our minds so that our minds, bodies, and souls can clearly see each other within the houses of our whole person.  They are interconnected in a way that only God understands, for he made us.  He made us well.

Let us rejoice in the wonder of his creation, in us!  Let us rejoice that God has designed us specifically for intimacy.  Let us seek true intimacy with him and with others with joyful hearts.  He calls us to draw near to him and take refuge, to delight in his peace.  Let us serve him with humility.

Gifts

I try to reframe my attitude about my day.  Often, I am unsuccessful and need reminders of what is truly important.  Today's thought is, "What have I given today?  What have I given to make somebody's day better?"

I also try very hard to think this way before the end of the day so that there is time left.  Have I given time to others?  Have I given my attention to others?  Have I given any of the many gifts God has given me back to others?

Many times the answer is no.  Why not change that?  Why not change the answer to yes?

This is the pep talk I gave myself today.  I need lots of pep talks.  I'm tempted to set a reminder on my cell phone to give myself a pep talk when I need it.

Was my day about myself?  About my aches and pains, my frustrations and fears?  Or, was it about others?  Was it about living in the present and giving of myself so that when I lay my head on my pillow at night that I haven't held myself back in reserves out of fear or selfishness?

There is always something that can be given, even if prayers are it.  Prayers can be the most important of all.  Even if I think about my little pep talk right before falling asleep, I can always give prayers.  I can always give thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is a gift to others as well, even if it is made in private.

Why?

The more thanksgiving I give, the better able I am to recognize that everything I have is a gift.  Everything is mine only because it was given to me by God or by others.  I can then give away anything I have because nothing is mine to begin with.  (Oh, and I hate dangling prepositions, but even those are given to me by God, so they're free to hang out-- Praise be to God for the ability to speak, to write, to read, and dangle prepositions!)

There are so many gifts in life.  I pray for the ability to recognize them, to give thanksgiving for them, to give them freely, and to always remember to pray.

Amen