I'm sure you believe that.
The word "Psychology" can be understood through Greek etymology. "Psyche" meaning "soul" and "ology" meaning the study of. Basically, psychology is soul science.
A great deal of Orthodox spirituality is psychology. No one understands it better. We are experts. What can I tell you about what we know?
You are not the thoughts that come to you. You are not the feelings that come to you. Understanding that, let me go over again what I am saying.
The first stage is when the thought or feeling comes to you. At this point you can either choose to ignore it or entertain it. We have many different methods to stop a demon when it first introduces itself, the primary method being prayer.
As you are not orthodox, chances are you don't really know how to pray properly. That being the case, I have a more fun method when the demon comes. Tell him to go away. He'll respond, "Why should I?". Then, tell the demon "Oh, I'll give you a reason!" And smack yourself with a stick. Now you might think that sounds silly, but eventually the little bugger will get the picture. Really though, it will create a psychological adversity towards having these thoughts.
Now you may be thinking, "Oh, he just thinks the idea of me beating myself with a stick is funny!" And you are correct. It is a legitimate method though, but nothing replaces prayer.
Now if you do not drive the demon away, the second stage is coupling. During this stage, your mind is entertaining the thought, feeling, demon. It has found a place in you. You let it in! Don't think otherwise. It is easy to get taken advantage of if you do not know how to wage spiritual warfare. At this stsge of coupling you are now fantasizing about the thought. You are being controlled by the emotion. It is this stage that the devil gains strength in you. It becomes harder and harder to resist. The dangerous part about this stage is what comes next.
The third stage is when the fantasy itself turns into action. How did it get to this point? Consent, it was consent the whole time. And now you find yourself giving your will over to a demon.
The longer you stay in this sin, the duller your conscience becomes. Early on there may be feelings that what you are doing is off in some way. Through repetition, it becomes more and more natural to sin without feeling wrong about it. This is not because it is harmless or not wrong, but because you have become desensitized at this point. The devil has control.
The good news is that these demons can be exorcised. While they hold you in chains now, those chains can be broken. All it takes is a little faith. Faith the size of a pea. That little bit of faith allows The Spirit of Truth to work in you, and clean you. To consent to the healing of Christ Jesus.
But as I said, it requires faith, and faith isn't simply a belief you have in your head. It is a movement, a real work. That is something you have to want for yourself. No one can push it on to you.
