We have two typical responses when confronted with desire. The first is to indulge it. We want what we want and we want it now. This is the starting place for most of us even as little children. Some of us never outgrow it. We can trace this approach back to our first father and mother who, though God said not to, ate the forbidden fruit because it looked good and seemed to promise what they...
Beautiful
When I was young, I would beg my dad to pull over whenever we’d drive by a beautiful sunset. I didn’t know why, I just knew it was something too good to miss. I had to see it, had to take it in. As a teenager, I became captivated by pornography. I didn’t know why, I just knew the images were intoxicating, and I wanted to see more. As human beings, we long for beauty. To do so is in our DNA. But...
In Love with Falling in Love
True confession: I’m a sap when it comes to love stories, and I admit I love a happily ever after ending. Falling in love can be magnificent. It can awaken our senses to beauty. Suddenly, we notice the twittering of birds, the colors in the sky, the quiet creaking of trees, or the quirky sense of humor of that difficult coworker. Falling in love stirs desire in us. It draws us like a magnet...
Don’t Be Fullish
Every week, men and women contact Regen because their desires keep getting them into trouble. Or so they think. But desire isn’t their problem. Fullishness is. Here’s what I mean: The greatest threat to a person deprived of nutrients is not hunger. It’s believing he’s had enough to eat. But as long as a man is hungry, he’ll seek out the nourishment he needs. We’re saturated with what’s...
Passion
It’s Holy Week. This is no time to be timid. It’s time to long. To groan. To ache. To mourn. To hunger. Most of the time, I live life too timidly, with tempered desire. Why this resistance to longing, hungering, desiring? For one, desire feels dangerous. If I tap into my longings, won’t I be tempted to indulge in those familiar sins that could wreck me like they have before? When I give desire...
Does Jesus Change Sexual Orientation?
Jesus can change homosexually-attracted men and women. Change is multi-faceted and there’s a lot more to how this happens and what this means than this blog will cover, but we know the reality of change based on the authority of Scripture, the historical teachings of the Church, and the testimonies of those who have experienced changes in their behavior, their sense of identity, and...