October 29, 2012 (Psalm 4:7)

Author: Andrew Comiskey
October 29, 2012
‘You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.’ (Ps. 4:7)

Among the treasures I have discovered in turning from sexual sin and toward merciful Jesus is emotional authenticity—the capacity to be fully present before Him and others. One discovers a range of emotions in sobering up. Beneath the squandering of passion are exquisite longings that can motivate one onto the pain and joy of real life, real relationships.

Dr. Joseph Nicolosi quotes a client who said: ‘I would now rather cry than masturbate.’ Surely the same is true about joy: I would rather laugh at the absurdity of my petty grasping ways than bring myself or another under the tyranny of sin.

St. Paul spoke of being ‘sorrowful and yet always rejoicing’ (2Cor. 6: 10). Out from under sin’s delusion, we can enter the spacious, scary place of genuine emotion.

‘Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice.’ (Ps. 51:8)

‘Grant us ongoing grace to refuse sinful attachments; grant us courage to face our unattached hearts. Lead us in paths of life, for Your name’s sake. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we confess our sins of cowardice and compromise. We have violated Your holy commands in regards to what we have done to our bodies and to other bodies. And in our compromise we have become cowards, unwilling to stand for what we know to be true for the dignity of all. We ask that You might have mercy on Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington; uphold marriage in these states, and in our nation, as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on ‘gay marriage.’
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