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I would like to share my story of my victory over masturbation through Christ and NOTHING but Christ. When this addiction tortured me, a comforting tale of success is one thing I desperately searched for. I pray that in telling my story now, others will be inspired to conquer this problem in their own lives.

I started masturbating when I was 13 and it pretty much became an instant, daily habit. I gave my life to Jesus at age 17 and proceeded to live a nightmare 16 months of earthly and spiritual desires tearing me apart inside, while appearing fine on the outside. During this time of my life I was not walking with God--I was crawling.

I don't know how others find it, but I could not bring myself to actively dedicate my life to Jesus in any way while this addiction was eating away at me. If I sinned once I could comfortably repent before God and do my best to avoid that sin in the future, but with an addiction like masturbation I could not truly repent before God because I knew that tomorrow I'd be doing the same thing again. I had little or no permanent relationship and joy with Christ and the only ways in which my life altered was with the things that were easy for me to change.

I still got fired up for God every time I went to a youth conference or a weekend away etc. And I made fresh commitments, even promises to God, that I would never masturbate again. In words - I gave the problem over to God, while in practise - I tried fighting it all by myself. Every time I failed to shake the affliction I became more and more depressed and my faith was severely stunted.

I could talk for hours on how much I hated my life during that time, but there's no need to dip too much into that area. If you're reading this, chances are you know how I felt.

Five months ago I was in Bible college, distressed to the point where suicide even crossed my mind. Learning about how amazing God is while coming no closer to experiencing it for myself was a painful thing. And at this point, God really challenged me: if He is real and the Bible is His word, then by stepping back from the problem and letting Him deal with it I will be victorious. If I do not believe this, then there is no point in being a Christian. If I cannot accept one crystal clear statement in His word then I must reject the rest too. But if I accept even one truth - That Jesus is Lord - then I must accept the rest also. If leaving the problem to Him was unsuccessful then it would mean that there is no God - and I know that's not true.

God had made me a challenge I couldn't back down from. I scoured my concordance for all the Scriptures I could find that told me I had victory over sin, and used ChristianAnswers.Net to gather whatever other information I could find (Cheers!). Then, with deeply stirred faith, I gave the situation over to God and simply BELIEVED. From that moment on, I began rejoicing that Jesus had delivered me from this 5 year addiction; a deliverance that took place on the cross, but had not been realised until then.

Need help in dealing with a sexual addiction, pornography, sex outside of marriage, or adultery? Christian volunteers are ready to help you by e-mail. All communications remain CONFIDENTIAL and discreet. Write us.

The challenge God made to me is open to anyone else who struggles with this problem. I just want to make it clear that NO HUMAN EFFORT IS REQUIRED TO OVERCOME ADDICTION. Simply give the problem to God, rejoice and relax; your troubles are over.

There's HOPE for you