Flee from Sin

Matthew 18:8-9
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

I recently read a sermon which said that it is not possible for us to turn from sin (I'd quote my source on this... but my computer decided to blow up at that moment and my history was not saved). The sermon went on to say that we can try to turn from sin - but it won't work. Sin will always be there. Temptation will always be there. Instead of turning from sin, we need to be turning to God. And, I agree with this concept.

This is not to say that we shouldn't try to avoid sin. We need to try to steer clear of it. We need to continue to try to resist it. But if we turn to God... if we ask his help in turning away from this sin... if we ask his guidance... we have a much better chance at turning from temptation. If we concentrate on prayer and service, on reading and studying scripture, we are less likely to succumb to temptation.

Now, I won't go into too much more detail on the subject of sin and temptation, simply because I think my last three blog posts were all on the same subject. However, I do want to touch on one particular part of this...

Avoiding sin. Fleeing from it.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I write smut. I have since I was in seventh grade. One of my most recent questions I've asked is whether or not writing this is a sin. I'm still not certain on the answer to this question. However, I was given one response which puts it into perspective if you take the time to think about it...

"There is an inherent danger in it, but that danger does not equal sinfulness. The question I'd ask yourself is this: Is writing this helping the people around me?"

And the answer to this?

Well, it depends on what kind of "help" I'm trying to provide the people around me...

Quite seriously, most of my writing is cathartic. My smut writing - not as much. Most of the time, this is simply either a) my fantasies written out for the world to see... or for my own eyes, depending on if I post them publicly; or b) an attention-seeking device; or c) all the above.

But, neither of these reasons for writing are helpful to myself (well, other than in a lustful, sinful manner), my relationship with God, or other people. In fact, I would almost go so far as to say they could be detrimental to these relationships. First, by spending so much time writing these, I take my focus off where it should be. Second, most of the themes held within the stories themselves are often sinful (unmarried couples - often strangers; or cheating spouses; or couples which just shouldn't be together; or situations which are taboo).

And therefore, they probably should not be written.

For this reason, I will not be writing any more on Passion's Garden, and will be removing that site as soon as I've had a chance to back up the stories posted there (yes, I know... it doesn't make sense to save these, but I have a very big problem deleting any of my writings - right or wrong, sinful or not... It stems from my childhood. Don't judge me).

Doing this is my personal way of avoiding the sin of lust (and the desire to tempt others with this sin). It is said that should we want to turn from sin, we must do what is needed - if our eye causes us to stumble, gorge it out.... I won't quite go to that extreme, but I will remove the temptation....

At least until I can come up with a better answer to whether or not writing these fantasies are a sinful act or not.