Fighting Lust Before It Grows
(A message from a brother in the battle)

I want to share something deeply personal—because I know I’m not the only one.

Lust has been a real struggle in my life. At first, it was small. I thought I could handle it. I let it crawl into my heart. I stayed silent. I didn’t ask for help. I was ashamed—and honestly, too prideful to admit it. Now, I see how much ground it’s tried to take in my life.

But by the grace of God, I haven’t given up. And neither should you.

We are in a real spiritual battle. The enemy wants to isolate us, shame us, and keep us from the mercy of Christ. But Christ came precisely for sinners—and He gave us the sacraments, especially Confession, to be healed and restored.

Here are a few things I’ve learned that have helped me fight:
1. Confession is powerful. Don’t wait. Don’t hide. Run to the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He already knows, and He waits with open arms. His mercy is greater than your sin.
2. Reach out early. Temptation grows in silence. Message someone. Talk to a brother. Don’t let the sin fester in the dark.
3. Guard your senses. What you watch, listen to, and scroll through forms your desires. Be intentional—practice custody of the eyes. Uninstall what you need to. Flee occasions of sin.
4. Fill your soul. Go to Mass, even daily if you can. Pray the Rosary—Our Lady is a fierce protector of purity. Read Scripture. Feed your soul with the things of Heaven.
5. Fast and offer sacrifices. Denying your body teaches your soul to lead. Even small acts—cold showers, skipping snacks, waking up earlier to pray—train the will and unite us to the Cross.
6. Stay hopeful. If you fall, get up. Again and again. Don’t listen to the lie that you’ve “failed too many times.” God’s grace is new every morning. The saints didn’t become saints because they never fell—but because they never stopped turning back to God.

And finally—if you’re fighting lust, or anything else, please don’t be afraid to reach out to this group. No one here is going to judge you. Honestly, your account is private—we don’t even know who you are. You’re not alone. We’re all trying to follow Christ, and we need each other.

This fight is real—but so is God’s mercy. Speak up before it grows. Stand with your brothers. Ask Our Lady to cover you. Go to Confession. Keep getting up.

I’m still in the fight—but I belong to Christ. And I refuse to give up.

"The reading of Scripture is a great defense against sin. Ignorance of the Scripture is a great misfortune, a great abyss. Not to know anything from the word of God is a disaster. This is what has given rise to heresies, to immorality; it has turned everything upside down.”

Saint John Chrysostom

Memorare to St. Joseph

Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored your help and sought your intercession were left unassisted.
Full of confidence in your power I fly unto you and beg your protection.
Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer my humble supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me. Amen.

Sayings of the Saints

“I was no longer the centre of my life and therefore I could see God in everything.”

~ St. Bede


St. Bede, pray for us.

Pray the rosary everyday!

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-025-02265-y

You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him who gives and kindles joy in the heart of him who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a swamp that nothing in another can equal it. That is why we turn away, and make much of the faults of others. Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace. Keep silent, refrain from judgement. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of slander, insult and outrage and will shield your glowing hearts against all evil.

+St. Seraphim of Sarov

“The condition of human nature is just this; man towers above the rest of creation so long as he realizes his own nature, and when he forgets it, he sinks lower than the beasts. For other living things to be ignorant of themselves, is natural; but for man it is a defect.”

~Boethius

In this world, therefore, the dominion of virtuous men is profitable, not so much for themselves as for human affairs.
But the dominion of vicious men is hurtful chiefly to themselves who rule, for they destroy their own souls by greater licence in wickedness; while those who are put under them in service are not hurt except by their own iniquity.
For to the just all the evils imposed on them by unjust rulers are not the punishment of crime, but the test of virtue.
Therefore the virtuous man, although he is a slave, is free; but the vicious man, even if he reigns, is a slave, and that not of one man, but, what is far more grievous, of as many masters as he has vices.
– St Augustine (City of God)

"The world is a spectacle that will soon be over."

St. Alphonsus Liguori

Ven. Fulton Sheen on the spiritual aspect of the debasement of architecture. (A Catholic Catechism, Lesson 25: Sacraments)

"The Rosary is the weapon that fights Satan and all his tricks with the perfume of the rose called “Ave Maria”. Humiliation of humiliations for the demons. The gathering of the most colossal physical force cannot stand against the slightest spark of hell, but the slightest dose of fragrance from a Rosary rose can make all the infernal powers tremble. The Rosary is the only rose bush that contains roses which, once cut, never cease to perfume: they become eternal praise for Mary Most Holy, Queen of all creation".

- Tomás I. González Pondal

Obedience is not the servitude of man to man, but submission to the will of God.

– Pope Leo XIII (Immortale Dei: On the Christian Constitution of States)

@imperatoraus