What's "natural" is precisely the problem; our Adamic nature is not a good thing. It wants to engage in detrimental behavior which YHWH told us to avoid for the good of our body, soul, and spirit. Scripture encourages the opposite of wearing our hearts on our sleeves for that very reason: we must be sober-minded/self-controlled with a guarded heart because we cannot let our emotions and the desires of our body determine how we react—scripture and the holy spirit should be the one leading us, not the flesh.
Quote:
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Quote:
Galatians 5:24-25 (KJV)
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Have you put off the old nature? Don't entertain these feelings, crucify them. Ask our Heavenly Father to provide you with self-control through his Holy Spirit. Yeshua died not just to atone for our sins, but to free us from the power of sin. Sinful lusts don't have that constricting grip on born-again believers anymore. He has enabled us to "redirect" our gaze. Be careful what you let within your eyesight. A lot of the times, that's simply all it is. What are you freely giving your attention to? What occupies your mind the most? Nowadays as a born-again believer, instead of concentrating on what I want, I start wondering about what our Heavenly Father would want. I didn't allow my affections to have an opinion, or "weigh in" on the matter, to the point that they don't even exist anymore. I only care about what YHWH would want or how I could help/show love to people according to his guidelines and instructions.
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