Temptations (Fighting the Urge)

Dear KNOT,

Ako po si Joel, 19 years old.

Isa po akong altar server sa aming parokya. Isang taon na lamang po ay maaari na po akong magleave dito sa ministriya ng pagiging sacristan dahil ako po ay tumatanda na. Nais ko po lamang ibahagi ang aking pinagdadaanan po ngayon.

Ang mga kabataan ngayon na kagaya ko ay naadik na sa Dota, Mobile Legends, Clash of Clans, at iba pang online and offline games. Sa paglalaro nito, minsan kapag free time, ay nakakapag-open kami ng mga internet sites na hindi naman dapat naming pinapanood. Ito ay ang pornography.

Hindi ko maintindihan ang desire na ito na manood ng porn. Alam ko na ito po ay hindi kaaya-ayang gawain. Nagkakasala na po ba ako sa tuwing pinapanood ko ang mga videos na yon?

Lubos na gumagalang,

Joel

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Dear Joel,

The teenage years is one of the developmental stages where a person exhibits being adventurous, curious as well as experimenting. This is also a stage where a person experiences heightened sexual urges. The desire to watch porn is one of these. Hence, it is not surprising for someone like you to experience the same.

Temptation is just a temptation until you give in. These may be wrapped so attractively that you just do not have the inner strength to resist. These could also be preceded by legitimate activities such as doing research for an assignment or a report. Then, afterwards you switch focus from video games and the invitation to open a porn site has become louder, very strong. No harm, you might say… it is just a click away… so why not open it? At this point there is always an internal struggle involved as you make a choice to yield to such temptation or not. And once you do yield, you are now saying hello to sin. This is what we may consider as occasions of sin.

Avoid occasions of sin by resisting temptation. As soon as you think about it, divert your mind to something else. Dissipate this sexual energy by keeping yourself busy because idleness is the workshop of the devil. For someone who serves the Lord, the devil works harder to snatch you away from Him. Nurture more and sustain your prayer life. Remember St. Paul said, “in my weakness there lies my strength…” God bless you. – DJ Cheng and Ate Emily

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