To me, there are three crucial messages from PureHeart Ministries; three things that you need to understand:

First, you're not the only one who struggles with masturbation and lust. For years, Satan had me convinced that I was the only Christian male in America who couldn't beat this sin. That is a lie. Many men struggle. The key question is this: are you still struggling? Are you putting up a fight?

Second, you CAN talk about it. The church walls aren't going to fall down if someone says "masturbation" in church. You won't go straight to hell, or get kicked out of the church. There is power in talking about it! We can encourage and strengthen each other!

Finally, you can WIN! You don't have to be a slave to lust and Satan any longer. Jesus kicked his butt on the cross and by rising from the dead, and if you are a child of God you have access to that victory! No matter how long or how often you've been wallowing in this sin, you can stop, and you can stop today, and you can stop forever. It won't be easy, and you will have to fight, but you can WIN!

Let me share a passage of scripture with you. This is from James 4, in the New Living Translation:

4 You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God. 5 What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful? 6 He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble." 7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. 9 Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.

The world will tell you that masturbation and lust are harmless fun, and after all shouldn't we all have as much fun as possible? That's the world talking, and James says that if our aim is to enjoy the world, we CANNOT be a friend of God.

Loving the world, and enjoying its pleasures, is temporary. Being a friend of God is eternal. Which is more important?

David Letterman will never use this, but here's a "Top Ten" list of reasons to stop lusting and masturbating:

5. It's a sin. Jesus said to lust after a woman is the SAME THING as having sex with her. Lust and habitual masturbation are inseparable, and therefore it's a sin. It's time for Christians to stop calling sin "harmless fun," or "a bad habit," or any other name that hides what it is. STOP SINNING!

4. Bad habits. Masturbation is about selfishness and speed. Satisfying sex in marriage is about togetherness and stamina. Habitual masturbation will make you a less-desirable sexual partner. Your sin will rob your wife of pleasure! STOP SINNING!

3. Unrealistic expectations. If you masturbate every day, your body gets used to that amount of sexual release. Plus, your fantasy women will look perfect all the time, and they'll do whatever you want, whenever you want. It's easy to imagine that when you get married, you'll be able to have sex whenever and however you want. WRONG! Don't build unrealistic expectations into your mind or your body and it's not fair to your future wife. STOP SINNING!

2. It rules your life. Habitual masturbation quickly becomes your master. When will your next chance be? What can you watch, read or look at online to fuel your lusts? We are called to be Spirit-controlled, not lust-controlled. STOP SINNING!

1. For the children. My son needs role models who are in the world but not of the world. He needs to know that his libido shouldn't be the driving force in his life. My daughters deserve to marry men who aren't controlled by lust, but who know that loving them involves a lot more than fulfilling selfish sexual fantasies. We in the church must be those role models. We must be raising the next generation to fight this war and not let Satan kick them in the tail. STOP SINNING!

OK, I only came up with a top five list, but hopefully you get the point.

I used to think that lust was harmless, and that someday I'd outgrow it. I never thought it would affect my marriage or my wife. WRONG. If Satan has an easy way to control you and keep you from being effective for the Kingdom, why would he stop when you got older, or when you got married, or when you became a pastor? He's going to do everything he can to defeat you. I made it easy for him…I just kept on lusting.

Finally, someone had the transparency to admit that they had been defeated by lust, too. But they had GONE TO WAR against Satan and lust, and they had WON VICTORY!

Honestly, I couldn't imagine actually winning that war. By that point, I'd given up even fighting…I just figured it was a battle I could never win, but here was someone saying that they had won! How could that be?

Because I had given up on winning, I'd also given up on fighting. I'd actually convinced myself that my lust and masturbation was harmless fun, that it didn't affect anyone else. I actually even managed to tell myself it was good for me! Stress relief! Interesting how Satan makes his lies sound so believable, isn't it?

A couple of months after talking to a man from PureHeart Ministries, and after reading and praying about the subject, I made a decision. I would ENGAGE IN THE BATTLE. I still wasn't sure I could win, but I decided that I would fight. I was tired of being a slave to sin, and having Satan kick my butt so regularly.

I enlisted a friend to go to war with me. Someone to hold me accountable, to pray with and for me, and to ask the hard questions. I don't believe that the sin of lust can be conquered without accountability. If you are going to engage in the battle, find a warrior to stand with you!

I have come a long way. I'm still in the battle. Now I win a lot more than I lose. But I can't let my guard down. Satan would love to entice me back to those old sins and bad habits. I'm still accountable. I'm recovering, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say I'm fully recovered, at least until I get to heaven. My biggest fight now is not with my hands but in my mind, the battle to keep my mind truly pure; to not let my thoughts or my imagination run wild like it did for so long.

I'd love to have you join me in this fight. Don't give up. Don't think that it's going to go away or that somehow you'll get past it or outgrow it. ENGAGE IN THE BATTLE! It's time for Christian men to rise up and start kicking Satan's butt. Not in our power or by our might, but in the strength of Christ. It's time for us to lead our wives and children with purity of heart and purpose. It's time for us to stop trying to be friendly with the world, and focus fully on our friendship with Christ, the King of kings.

Are you ready? It's time to go to war!