T he Bible tells us that it is important to guard our minds from sinful thoughts.

From
wrong thinking comes wrong actions. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep thy heart with all
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” This verse says that to guard your heart it
will take diligence. That means it is something that doesn’t happen without effort. 2
Corinthians 10:5 says that we need to bring wrong thoughts into captivity. We must
control our mind so that we can obey Christ. “Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ;”
So how are you to fill your mind with the right thoughts? How can you fight this war
against wicked thinking? Here are five ways to help you avoid sinful thoughts which
become wrong habits.
Fill Your Mind with God’s Word
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any
praise, think on these things.”
The Bible fits the description of all these things that Paul writes about in Philippians. When
you pack your mind with songs full of ungodly lyrics you can’t expect to have pure
thoughts. You need to focus on the true, honest and pure teaching of the Bible.
Memorizing Bible verses and passages is a great way to fill your mind with God’s Word.
Look at some of the many verse lists we have here at What Christians Want to
Know: Bible Verses by Topic and start memorizing God’s Word. If you are memorizing
and meditating on the Bible, then it will begin to push out the ungodly thoughts from the
world and your past.
Keep Your Mind Clean
Psalm 101:3 “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that
turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”
Job 31:1 “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?”
As the verse in 2 Corinthians reminds us, the battle for your mind is an active one. It is
not something that you can passively win. You must work to keep your mind pure. The
psalmist says that he would set no wicked thing before his eyes. Job covenanted with
himself to keep his eyes pure because he knew that men are attracted by what they see.
These two verses say that if we can keep our eyes from seeing things that are wicked
then the likelihood of keeping a pure mind is greater.

Yet, there is a daily battle for your eyes. Driving down the road introduces you to
billboards that promote nudity, sex and sin larger than life. You must guard your eyes.
You may think, “Well, I can’t control that. I have to drive that way to work.” That may
be true, but let me ask you about the things you can control. What are you watching on
TV? What about the movies you watch or the books and magazines you read? I am not
just talking about the obviously wicked items. You need to guard your eyes from many
things on prime-time television. A casual glance through health magazines at the doctor’s
office can bombard your eyes and mind with ungodly images that stir up evil thoughts.
Yes, it is a battle, but it is a battle that we have been given the tools with which to fight.
Establish Accountability with Someone
Hebrews 10:24, 25 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;
but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Find a friend who can hold you accountable. Meet with them regularly either in person,
over the phone or through the Internet. I have an accountability partner that I regularly
email to let him know what is going on in my life. He knows that when I don’t write him
on a regular basis it is because there is something I am not wanting to share about what
is going on in life. Knowing that he expects me to report to him helps keep me
accountable.
Proverbs 11:14 and 15:22 say that we should surround ourselves with counsellors. These
are church friends and other mature Christians who can help with accountability. Being
around other people who want you to do right will give you good examples for how to
live.

View Others with Godly Eyes

1 Timothy 5:1, 2 “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger
men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.”

Think of other people as your brothers and sisters. Even if the person is an unbeliever,
you should still love them like a sister. There are many stories in the Bible where Jesus
interacted with women. Sometimes they were vulnerable emotionally or physically.
However, you never see Jesus acting inappropriately toward them. He always treated
them in a godly and wholesome way. He treated them like they were part of His family.

When you view other people as objects to be desired then it is hard to have godly
thoughts toward them. Remember that even those who improperly display their bodies
is someone’s daughter, mother, brother or son. They may not be doing right, but that
does not give you a license to take advantage of them or to allow your mind to continue
towards unholy thoughts and actions.

Avoid Temptation
Romans 13:14 “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh,
to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
This verse has been the most helpful verse to me in overcoming wrong thoughts which
lead to wrong actions in my life. Paul says that we should not make an easy way for the
flesh to win. Have you noticed a pattern in the temptation in your life? Do you typically
fall into sin at the same places or with the same people? I noticed that in my life that was
true. I learned that I could choose to stay out of those places or stay away from those
people and activities that would cause me to sin.

Often, we make temptation easy for ourselves. We don’t try to avoid it. We want to play
as close to it as we can but then get upset when we fall into the sin. If you want to avoid
the sin, then avoid the situations that give you an opportunity to sin. Don’t play with
temptation and then claim that the devil made you do it. That is a lie that you may be
telling yourself, but you know it is not true. We often bring the temptation and sin upon
ourselves. Claim the power of Romans 13:14 and have confidence that the God who
wrote this in His Word has the power to help you apply it in your life.

Conclusion
Avoiding sinful thoughts is not impossible; remember these things:

 Be careful to fill your mind with God’s Word

 Keep your mind clean (avoid the things that pollute your mind)
 Establish accountability with a fellow believer and keep in touch
 View others with godly eyes (even when they do not dress or act godly)
 Avoid temptation – listen when the Holy Spirit prompts you to stay away
God has a reward for your endurance:
James 1:12-15 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he
shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away
of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

Eddie-
After a permanent struggle with sin in my life (internet pornography), despite my
wholehearted desire to please God as I am a believer, I continually experience God’s
mercy and grace towards me. The devil has kept trying to prevent me from coming
back to God for forgiveness whenever I sin, but as I feel convicted by His Holy Spirit
and my spirit gets overwhelmed by the sadness, emptiness and helplessness that sin
brings with it, the Spirit of God leads me to yield myself to Him in prayer and cry to
Him in Jesus name, for His forgiveness, and for changing my heart completely. I can
acknowledge then how God is good, as He gently restores His peace, hope and joy in
my life. Nothing is worst in life than the realization of having lost your relationship with
God due to sin. Likewise, nothing is better in life than having peace with God and
experiencing His love and protection every day as you put Him at the Centre of your
life.
Now, after many years, I know for certain that only Love can give you victory over sin
and over the Devil. Yes, it is the love from those who love me, first from God thru Jesus
Christ, second from my wife and my 9 yrs.-old son, and third from others. God shows
His love to me at all times in many ways, and it has the power to humble me and to
change me. In a similar way, the love from my wife and son also touches and humbles
me as it makes me accountable to God who has entrusted them to me. How unbearable
it is to realize that when I sin, it carries curses not only upon myself but also upon my
household, even until the 4th or 5th generation, then I can’t help of thinking of my
loving son and wife, and I feel overwhelmed by sadness as I do not want them to pay
the consequences of my sin. They are surely innocent. I also know that my obedience
to God can bring all the blessings to my household, as God is faithful to His promises,
then I realize I have to choose well, to do good so I and my family can live, and not to
choose evil which will surely lead me and my family to death and destruction. These
thoughts have helped me overcome the sin of immorality, and despite that the battle
takes place at every moment, in my mind, now I know that the love of God for me thru
Christ and the love that God gives me thru my dear wife and son, and thru so many
other people, it can defeat the world as it is stronger than any temptation to sin.
stronger than the devil, stronger than anything in this life. Praise God! Thank you,
LORD Jesus, you have defeated the world, and the devil, and your victory is also my
victory, and my household’s victory every day and forever. Amen!

King David covets Uriah's wife Bathsheba.

"But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her,
hath already committed adultery with her in his heart."--Matthew 5: 28

Unchaste Thoughts and Desires

by Fr. Johann Evangelist Zollner, 1883

"Why do you think evil in your hearts?"--Matt. 9: 4.

It is generally said that thoughts are free. This saying may be true before men, who
cannot look into the heart, and, consequently, are not able to judge of what we think
and wish, but not before God, "who searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the
thoughts of minds."--Paralip. 28: 9. For this reason our Lord in the Gospel (of this
day) rebukes the Scribes for thinking ill of him, saying: "Why do you think evil in
your hearts?" We must give an account to God of evil thoughts and desires as well as
of sinful words and works; for what we are not allowed to say and to do, we are not
allowed to think of, wish, nor desire. For this reason, all evil thoughts and desires are
forbidden in the sixth and the ninth commandments. Numberless sins are committed
by evil thoughts and desires, and on the day of General Judgment we will see how
many souls are delivered to eternal perdition on account of such sins. Today I shall
speak of unchaste thoughts and desires, and show you:

I. How we can sin by unchaste thoughts and desires,

II. How we must conduct ourselves in such thoughts and desires.

Part I.
Note.--When we represent to ourselves in our mind something unchaste and think of it
without having the desire of seeing, hearing, or doing it, we then have unchaste
thoughts. We have unchaste desires when we not only represent to ourselves
something unchaste, but also desire to see, hear, or do it. By unchaste thoughts we can
sin mortally, or venially, or not at all.

1. We sin grievously,

(a.) By unchaste thoughts, when we take voluntary pleasure in them. I say voluntary
pleasure, for the pleasure in unchaste thoughts can also be involuntary where no sin is
committed, proceeding only from nature corrupted by original sin. Suppose that
unchaste thoughts and representations arise in your heart, in which at once you find
pleasure or a sensual delight, but which you disapprove of and resist as soon as you
perceive that they are sinful; in this case the pleasure in the unchaste thoughts is
involuntary, because you will offer resistance, and consequently, you commit no sin.
But if once you know that what you think of is unchaste and sinful, and nevertheless
entertain it with pleasure without fighting against it and trying to banish it from your
mind, you commit a mortal sin, because the pleasure in the unchaste thought is
entirely voluntary. It is not necessary that you take pleasure in the unchaste object for
any length of time; for, to entertain this voluntary pleasure only for a moment, is a
mortal sin. That impure thoughts, in which we take voluntary pleasure, are grievous
sins, St. Augustine teaches in these words: "If the mind takes pleasure in unlawful
thoughts, which it ought to banish at their first appearance, it evidently commits a sin,
and this even when it does not propose to itself to execute what it thought."

The great doctor of the Church here does not speak of venial, but of mortal sins,
because immediately after, he remarks that man must expect eternal damnation on
account of such sins, unless they are forgiven him by the mercy of the Redeemer.
From this you may conclude what a countless number of mortal sins Christians
commit, who daily voluntarily entertain a multitude of unchaste thoughts and desires
and take pleasure in them. And how many Christians are there who think lightly of
these sins in thoughts and who hardly ever accuse themselves of them in the
confessional.

(b.) By unchaste desires, when they are voluntary. But they are voluntary when we
perceive that what they aim at is a grievous violation of chastity, and yet use no
violence to suppress them, but entertain them with pleasure. It is not necessary to
make a formal resolution to undertake something or to employ means for the
gratification of the unchaste desires; the mere desire of something unchaste suffices
for a mortal sin, if the desire is perfectly voluntary. As of impure thoughts, so of
impure desires we must remark that they are a grievous sin when they are entertained
perfectly voluntarily even for a moment; for if the will turns itself totally from God,
though only for a moment, it is a separation from God, and, consequently, the mortal
sin is consummated. That voluntary impure desires are mortal sins is evident from the
words of Christ: "But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after
her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.--Matt. 5: 28. Unchaste
desires according to their nature are more grievous sins than unchaste thoughts; for it
betrays a greater corruption of the heart to wish, to desire or to have the will to do
wrong, than only to take pleasure in it. You are therefore obliged to declare in the
confessional whether you have had unchaste thoughts or desires; and if the unchaste
desires were directed to married people, near relatives, or persons consecrated to God,
you must also add this, because such circumstances not only render the sin more
grievous, but also change its species.

2. We sin venially.

(a.) When we do not purposely provoke or deliberately entertain unchaste thoughts

and desires, but are the causes of them through our own, although not grievous, fault.
This generally happens when we carelessly allow ourselves looks, words and jests
which are anything but decent, and of which we know only too well that they are very
apt to produce unchaste thoughts and desires. If anyone knows from experience that
he habitually consents to such thoughts and desires, he is bound, under penalty of
mortal sin, to avoid such occasions as much as possible. Examples: Looks at certain
persons, intimate familiarity with them, participation in dances.

(b.) When, instead of resisting and suppressing the impure temptation at once, we
yield a little to it from inconsiderate curiosity, without, however, taking pleasure in it.
Thus, Eve in the beginning, when she listened to the suggestions of Satan, but did not
consent to them, did not sin grievously, but she cannot be pronounced free from a
venial sin, because from curiosity she entered into conversation with the tempter,
instead of rejecting him with contempt. In like manner, you will commit no grievous
sin by entertaining unchaste thoughts and desires a little while from curiosity, but you
are not free from a venial sin, because we ought to reject the temptation with all
earnestness the very moment we perceive its wickedness. We must not overlook here,
that all voluntary pleasure in the unchaste thoughts must be excluded, because
otherwise we would no longer commit a venial, but a mortal sin.

(c.) When we take some pleasure in impure thoughts and desires, but lack the proper
deliberation or knowledge of the evil. It often happens that one is overwhelmed by an
impure temptation, the wickedness of which he does not perceive at once, because his
thoughts are not collected. He stops for a time in the contemplation of this sinful
object, and also takes some pleasure in it, but he wants the necessary deliberation, and
does not recognize at the time that what he thinks of and takes pleasure in, is
something very sinful. In this case, he commits only a venial sin, because he does not
yet possess the necessary deliberation or knowledge of the evil. But if from the
moment, he perceives the sinfulness of the temptation he does not offer earnest
resistance, but perseveres in it longer with pleasure, he commits a mortal sin, because
the pleasure is entirely voluntary.

(d.) Finally, when we indeed detest and resist unchaste thoughts and desires, the
sinfulness of which we sufficiently know, but not with such determination as we
ought. In this case the will of man is not without all fault, because it does not
determinedly and strongly enough resist the temptation. Want of a sufficiently strong
resistance against impure temptation is the reason why most of the venial sins against
purity are committed.

3. We do not sin at all when we find displeasure in unchaste thoughts and desires and
endeavour to banish them from our mind. As long as we do not wish to sin we do not
sin. Though the temptations against chastity may be very violent, though they may
frequently return and last long, they are not sinful providing we do not carelessly
cause them and consent to them. St. Francis of Sales says: Though a temptation may
last during our whole life, it will not make us displeasing to God, providing we take
no pleasure in it and do not consent to it. The temptation in which we are in a passive,
rather than an active state, and in which, therefore, we take no pleasure, can in no way
be imputed to us as a sin. Yes, Christians who strongly resist and banish temptations,
not only commit no sin, but acquire great merits for themselves, which the Lord will
richly reward in the other world.

Part II.
1. What ought to be our conduct in unchaste thoughts and desires? If we are assailed
by impure thoughts and desires, we ought:

(a.) To offer earnest resistance in the very beginning. The resistance must be made in
the beginning, that we may not sin, for he who does not fight against and banish the
impure thoughts and desires in the very moment in which he perceives them to be
sinful, commits at least a venial sin, as already remarked. They must be resisted in the
beginning, that we may more easily overcome them. It is with impure temptations as
with a spark which falls upon an inflammable object. You can easily extinguish it and
prevent a conflagration, but if you neglect it for a little while, the spark will kindle a
great fire which cannot be checked and controlled at all, or only with the greatest
difficulty. Hence St. Augustine says: ''If a bad thought arises in you, and you banish it
at once, your heart will not be defiled by it, or at least will again obtain its purity, but
if you leave it in your heart for any length of time, you can banish it only with
difficulty and great labour." Hence an ancient poet says: "Resist the beginning; too
late is medicine administered when by long delay the evil has grown strong."

(b.) The resistance must be earnest. St. Ignatius very appropriately compares an
impure temptation to a woman who, when she quarrels with her husband, takes to
flight when she finds earnest resistance, but clamours and rages the worse the more
the man shows himself timid and resists only weakly. If we show ourselves weak
against our tempter, he becomes bolder and more impetuous; he will perhaps succeed
in overcoming our weak resistance and win a complete victory. But if we offer an
earnest and determined resistance in the beginning, he generally loses courage for the
continuation of the contest, for he sees that he gains nothing by his assaults. The
thought that the salvation of our soul is endangered ought to animate us to earnest
resistance. What a calamity it would be to consent to the temptation and sin
grievously! This resistance, however, must not be impetuous, but considerate and
calm; we must avert our thoughts from the impure object and direct them to eternal
truths, such as the four last things to be remembered, and to Jesus Christ, our crucified
Redeemer.

2. To call upon God for help. Solomon did this, saying: "As I knew that I could not
otherwise be continent, except God gave it, and this also was a point of wisdom, to
know whose gift it was, I went to the Lord and besought him with my whole heart."--
Wisd. 8: 21. St. Francis of Sales says: "As soon as you perceive a temptation, do as
little children who, when they see a bear or a wolf, run to their father or mother, or at
least cry for help; in like manner have recourse to God and ask His help and mercy."
Our Saviour himself furnishes you with this means when He says: "Pray, that you
enter not into temptation." Frequently make the sign of the Cross, for, as St.
Augustine says, "through the power of the Cross all the assaults of the devil are
frustrated."

3. Not to be discouraged when the temptation lasts a long time, but persevere in the
use of the means, until you obtain the victory. Christians who have long and
permanent temptations to endure must, first of all, consider what is the cause of these
temptations, and regulate their conduct accordingly.

(a) He who in time past has often sinned against purity, usually afterwards endures
many unchaste temptations. Thus, we read of the holy penitent, Margaret of Cortona,
that she was very much tormented by great temptations exactly as many years as she
had lived a sinful life. Christians with whom impure temptations have this origin,
must humble themselves before God and mortify themselves a great deal, in order to
prevent a relapse.

(b) Impure temptations have their origin often in this, that people are not watchful
enough, allow too much liberty to their senses, and do not with proper care avoid
occasions. Many do not guard their eyes, those inlets of criminal passion, are too free
in their intercourse with persons of the opposite sex, or nourish and foster a too
sensible inclination for a certain person. Such persons are in imminent danger of
losing their souls; they must stop the sources of their temptations, otherwise they can
never get rid of the temptations themselves.

(c) Many are greatly tormented by unchaste thoughts and desires without giving
occasion to them, for they lead a retired, mortified life, and diligently fulfil their
religious duties. Such Christians must not be disquieted, for these temptations are no
loss to them, but rather gain. God permits them to be tempted in order to keep them in
humility, to preserve them from tepidity and levity and to afford them an opportunity
for practising various virtues and increasing their merits. They must, however,
redouble their watchfulness and fervour in prayer and often excite themselves to the
love of God in order to keep all danger of consenting to the temptations away. The
advice may also be given to them to disclose their temptations in the confessional, for
"a revealed temptation is already half conquered."--St. Philip Neri.

PERORATION:

This is what you must do when you are assailed by unchaste thoughts and desires:
You must offer an earnest resistance in the very beginning, and call upon God for
grace and help. If the temptation lasts, you must not be discouraged, but persevere in
the use of the appropriate means, and as much as possible avoid everything that might
afford an occasion for impure temptations. If you are not wanting in what is required
for the overcoming of every temptation on your side, you may rest assured that God
will do His share, for, as the Apostle says, "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to
be tempted above that which you are able; but will make also with temptation issue,
that you may be able to bear it."--I. Cor. 10: 13. Amen.

Prayer To Obtain Grace To Conquer Our Passions

St. Johns Manual, 1856

Holy God, Father of mercies, who hast created me only to serve thee in the liberty of
thy children, permit not that I should longer be subject to the degrading slavery of my
passions, and assist me in the struggles, without which I can never hope to escape
from their oppressive bondage. O Lord, thou knowest my weakness, and the strength
of the enemies who have dominion over me; thou art the continual witness of my
faults and miseries; I am puffed up with pride; my feelings are embittered by
resentment and ill-humor; I am indolent in the discharge of duty, and the few good
works I perform are corrupt by self-love, which insinuates itself into my best actions.
O my God, how wretched a slavery for a soul, which, notwithstanding these and
innumerable other miseries, desires to belong unreservedly to Thee alone! My
resolution is taken; whatever it may cost me, I am determined to listen no more to the
dangerous suggestions of my evil inclinations, but to avoid sin and conquer the
passions which unhappily lead to it. In thy name, O Almighty God, I will take up arms
against the enemies, which so many others have happily combated with the assistance
of Thy grace. In Thy name, also, I hope to gain the victory, through the merits of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest
one God, world without end. Amen.

Prayer Against Lust

O Lord Jesus Christ, Guardian of chaste souls, and lover of purity, who was pleased
to take our nature and to be born of an immaculate Virgin: mercifully look upon my
infirmity. Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me; help
me to drive away all evil thoughts, to conquer every sinful desire, and so pierce my
flesh with the fear of Thee that, this worst enemy being overcome, I may serve Thee
with a chaste body and please Thee with a pure heart. Amen.

Prayer for Victory in Temptation

My Queen, my Mother! I give thee all myself, and, to show my devotion to thee, I
consecrate to thee my eyes, ears, mouth, heart, my entire self. Wherefore, O loving
Mother, as I am thy own, keep me, defend me, as thy property and possession. Amen

Prayer at the Approach of Temptation

My God! let me rather die than offend Thee. My Divine Saviour! assist me by Thy
powerful grace: mercifully preserve me from yielding to this temptation, and give me
a great horror for sin. Lord! save me, or I shall perish.

Prayer When You Have Committed Sin

Alas! my God, another fault! Art, thou not ready to withdraw thy graces from me?
But, my infinitely good God! I repent; and I offer Thee in expiation of this fault, all
that my Divine Saviour has done to expiate it; --I offer Thee the sorrow of His Sacred
Heart. My God! be propitious to me for His sake, and because I am