The meaning of repentance and confession.

Christian faith gives a person powerful means to struggle against sin and to recover from lust. They are repentance and confession before the one’s spiritual father. (Revealing one’s spiritual problems to an experienced therapist or even a close person is acknowledged to be useful even by modern psychology). This is an extremely important fact from the point of view of spiritual hygiene and the moral development of a person. It is not right to think that the loss of purity is irreparable. Sins, no matter how heavy, must not become an evil fate, through which we are doomed to slide further and further down. There are many young people who despair and cease to struggle with the bad inclinations because they have lost hope of improving. The Holy Fathers note the following law: before a fall the demons convince a person that God is very kind and He will forgive him this "small" sin, and after the sin is committed the demons convince him that his sin is awful and it is useless to confront his lust or passion. However, it is necessary to remember that Christ's grace can heal even the most inveterate sinful habits. It is only necessary to open up to God the secret places of your sick soul and to ask for forgiveness and help.

The following sins are connected with lust: accepting dirty ideas, enjoyment of voluptuous dreams, looking at another person with lust, shameless exposure of the body, seductive and defiant behavior, immodest conversations, nasty jokes and stories, voluptuous kisses, embracing and immodest dancing, enjoyment of provocative music, watching seductive shows, photos, or pornography, self-satisfaction, fornication, adultery, debauchery, different sexual distortions and homosexuality. This last sin is the heaviest and most disgusting of all.

We must remind here those who tempt sin even more than those who are submitting to temptation. Therefore girls and women should behave modestly and with a due sense of shame. They should avoid the exposure of their body as well as all kinds of immodest behavior. "Woe to the man through whom they (the temptations) come" —says our God (Matthew 18:7).