:') i want to SI so badly right now and the only thing stopping me is the deal i have with my friend (which states that if i SI that she can too and vise versa and neither of us want to see each other do it)... i really want to tho.. and i dont even know what wrong or why im in such a mood to do it right now i thought my faith right now was at one of its strongest points and until easter morning around 4 am it had been nearly 2 months since i last cut.. i was so mad i actually wanted to cut because i was mad at myself for cutting if that makes any sense at all... and i think im going crazy... what should i do? ugh
sorry for such a rant....
God bless
~xXLaylaXx
HERE I STAND EMPTY HANDS WISHING MY WRISTS WERE BLEEDING
TO STOP THE PAIN FROM THE BEATING
AND THERE YOU STOOD HOLDING ME
WAITING FOR ME TO NOTICE BUT WHO ARE YOU
YOU ARE THE TRUTH OUT SCREAMING THESE LIES
YOU ARE THE TRUTH SAVING MY LIFE
.:SaM:. is my favoritest Flyleaf loving sister ever!
*hugs* Fight the urge the short term benifits pale in comparison to the benifits of saying free
Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"
Thomas Parke D’Invilliers
rustedchains is hitting on the core of what I'm saying -- that verse does get taken out of context. I'll elaborate more on my view. Actually, aquatickitten already said half of what I meant when I said it's not always a sin.
"Also, I forget exactly where, but Paul also says at one point that if you do something that violates your conscience, you are sinning--regardless of whether it is 'actually' right or wrong."
There are some people, many people, for whom self-injury is a giant roadblock between them and God. SI is their addiction, their comfort, their safe place. Psalm 119:114 says, "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word." Our hope, our hiding place must be found in Jesus, not SI, not ED, not anything else. At the same time, for others, SI is in a (small) sense like journalling, or running, or exercising, or taking a nap -- they are tools we use to calm and focus our minds so that we can think clearly and bring swirling thoughts to a manageable level. Still others SI because to them, it is in some way an artistic, personal expression of their inner struggle. It gives voice to things they cannot speak through pen and paper; paint and brush, voice and song.
I do want to make it clear that I think SI that is used as a false comfort is sin. But not all SI is done out of a sinful motive and sinful heart -- the action of inflicting tissue damage is not a sin inherently, if it were, tattoos and piercings would be a sin. It is the sinful desire of the heart that makes the action wrong. That's where Psalm 139:23-24 come in:
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
We must, as always, continually pray and ask God to search our hearts, to know our hearts, and show us if there is any sin in our actions. For some, SI is a sin, but I believe for others it is not. I can very definitely say that it has, at different times, been both for me. Each person has to search out their motives, seek God's heart, and determine if it is being done sinfully or not. And I really do want to emphasize this, I'm not saying it's okay for anyone to cut or that they should.
*cries* i wish it wasnt this hard... thats much easier said than done... right now i just sorta want this all to be over.. i feel like an idiot
HERE I STAND EMPTY HANDS WISHING MY WRISTS WERE BLEEDING
TO STOP THE PAIN FROM THE BEATING
AND THERE YOU STOOD HOLDING ME
WAITING FOR ME TO NOTICE BUT WHO ARE YOU
YOU ARE THE TRUTH OUT SCREAMING THESE LIES
YOU ARE THE TRUTH SAVING MY LIFE
.:SaM:. is my favoritest Flyleaf loving sister ever!
Please don't do it
You might feel better for a couple of hours but after that you'll regret it
Just think about how long you've gone without doing it, you don't want to ruin that
Think of how proud of yourself you'll be when you don't give in to it
*hugs*
PM me if you need to talk
I May Be Going Broke But I'm Never Broken Down
Less Than Jake <3
16.06.10 - The Day He Saved My Life
Love You Baban
<3
I think the verse that best applies here is...oh, where was it...1 Cor 8. I won't post the entire thing here, but I highly recommend everyone read it. Also, I forget exactly where, but Paul also says at one point that if you do something that violates your conscience, you are sinning--regardless of whether it is 'actually' right or wrong. So, to anyone reading this thread, please don't decide it's ok or not ok to SI based on what you read here. Spend time praying and asking God about it.
Oh! I found it. Romans 14.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aquatickitten
I've got this sinking feeling that what I'm about to say will be immensely unpopular...
We are called to be like Christ. He didn't exactly live a life of comfort. I wouldn't say God wants us to hurt, exactly, but...our comfort and happiness isn't His first priority. I mean, Jesus was beaten unrecognizable and nailed to a tree. Plenty of Christians have been martyred. The promise of abundant life is one for the next world, and also for this world in the midst of our pain and troubles. The spiritual world is full of paradoxes. So many times we say "God bless you" and the like to other Christians, but do we even understand what we're saying?
That's what it means to follow Christ. It's only when we die to ourselves that we find true life. It doesn't make sense on the surface, but then God never has chosen the smart or the strong...only those who will trust him.
Okay, end of immensely unpopular rant. :( sorry, guys.
yesyesyesyesyesyesyes. and more yes.
People like to pull out verses that say things about God blessing us, but not acknowledge that a blessing could come in the form of something incredibly unpleasant. Eg, the anguish and emotional turmoil I went through last semester turned out to be a huge blessing. Yes, I felt horrible, and miserable, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Through that struggle I've learned so much and gained a much deeper understanding of Christ's forgiving love for us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple016
I'm far too exhausted to find all the bible verses to back this up but some of the devil's best tricks are to convince people what they are doing is not wrong, its not a sin and it's not putting a block between them and God. But self harm will damage your relationship with God, you can build it back but it's not living for God. Self harm IS a sin, please don't try and convince yourself it is not, that will not help you. I have no problem in saying I know I am sinning everytime I self harm and I have done so for 5 years but thankfully by the grace of God I am 3 and a half months free and hopefully I will not go back to it. Self harm is a sin but Jesus came for the sinners, he died for us while we were and still are sinners romans 5 v 8 I think. He loves us and we should show that in our actions and words, is self harming showing Christ's love? I'm sorry this is blunt I'm just too tired to put it more softly and sometimes you just really need to know what God says rather than culture.
Yes!!!!!!!
This is exactly what I was going to say (with the amendment that I SIed for 3 years, and am now 20 months free.)
I definitely acknowledge that I lived in blatant, horrible sin during that time, and that I am so grateful that God is merciful, and forgave me, and set me free from that.
I find it to be a huge blessing that God is now using the testimony that came out of my sin for His glory.
Hey, I'm sharing my testimony at my friend's church tomorrow evening. This will be the first time I've shared the parts about my dad's abuse, and how God brought me to the point of forgiveness... Needless to say I'm really nervous...
It'll be a crowd of at least 300-ish people...
Please pray that I would not be anxious, and that the peace of God (which surpasses all comprehension) will guard my heart and my mind, and that it would not be me speaking, but the Holy Spirit speaking through me.
It went well. I relaxed and let God take over, and it went well.
I love telling people about who I used to be, and who I am now, and telling them that God did that!!!
Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"
Thomas Parke D’Invilliers
well done salanna!
I just got back from a huge christian event, spring harvest, it was the best 5 days ever! For the first time I genuinely felt loved by God and knew he was always going to be with me, he wouldn't take away the hurt but he would sit it out with me. I also had big stuff happen with a few of the girls in my youth group. I didn't know this one girl very well but sort of got to know her a bit while we were there and on day 4 during a meeting i felt such a strong feeling of God telling me to go and pray with her because she was going through everything I was. I had no idea if she was or not so I took a massive leap of faith and went over as she was crying and asked if I could pray for her. I told her about my depression/SI very very briefly and told her I felt God was telling me that I should tell her because maybe she's going through it too. We ended up chatting for 2 hours pouring our hearts out to each other and realised we were very very similar in many ways. I've been blessed by God with this new open and honest relationship and I just wanted to share that with you guys, I've never seen how amazing listening to God's direct instructions can be before and it's filled me with overwhelming joy.
God has really been moving amongst our youth group recently, especially the girls and I'm trying to set up a girly group for 14-18's that just meets at our houses for a couple of hours every so often to chat and pray together without our leaders so we don't become dependent on them. I really feel like this is something God is telling me to do so please could people pray that if it's meant to happen it will and if not then he'll make that clear.
'The nights of crying your eyes out give way to the days of laughter' Psalm 30 v 5
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Every day. Every minute of every hour of every day. Letting anyone that close is against my deepest survival instincts...but again and again God reminds me that faith means holding on to Him...and grace means he's holding us, too.
The thing is, you can shut him out all you want but you can never change the fact that he absolutely adores you. I'm not gonna lie, I personally find that terrifying. Maybe you do, too. But that doesn't change the fact that he's always gonna be right here, waiting.
not only that, but he totally gets that you have this problem. he loves you for the person that you are, not who you feel you should be, and he has no problem reassuring you as many times as you need to hear it that he loves you. he knows wat it costs for you to let him in, and because of that he views your trust and love as a priceless treasure.
just wanted to let you know that the girls in my youth group are going to meet up this saturday evening to just chat and see what we want to do in the group, there's only 5 or 6 of us and please could you guys pray that we form some really fresh open and honest relationships with each other and we can grow together with God. I feel God is particularly calling me to start this group because so many of us depend on our youth leader who's leaving and I feel like his trying to set us up with a support network ready for when she goes. Has anyone ever started a group like this? if so any suggestions would be really helpful thank you, even if you haven't any thoughts would be appreciated :) I had the idea for this on saturday and it's all moving so quickly I feel God is really wanting this to happen, I'm just not sure why yet.
'The nights of crying your eyes out give way to the days of laughter' Psalm 30 v 5
I am having the hardest time right now and I really need some prayers. I feel like I'm always complaining-- and it's even making me sick. Maybe that's why no one else can ever stand to be near me for more than a few days; I wear people out, I suppose. How do you get away from yourself?
We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin. ~André Berthiaume
Have you guys ever struggled with pushing Jesus away?
Yes. I think it's because I don't think that He'll really want to be around me forever-- since no one else has stuck around that long w/o getting sick of me, so I figure I'd push first-- that'll make it less hurtful in the end.
I know it's an irrational feeling, but there it is.
We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin. ~André Berthiaume
I was just thinking about this randomly the other day. What does God say about people who practice magic?
Look at Galatians 5:19-21 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
I think Deuteronomy 18:9-14 is a bit clearer. "When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so."
So, He really, clearly, forbids it.
Does that clear up your question?
yay
