Dis Sex Thing Self - The Hormones Behind Sexual Power by Rev. Christie Bature: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

This teaching opens a short series addressing those struggling with sexual habits, sexual compulsions, and confusion about their own sexuality. The series exists because of how much power sexuality seems to hold over people, illustrated by a national tragedy in which a young girl was raped and killed inside a church building. The aim of the series is to help believers understand why sexuality carries such force, and how to harness rather than be ruled by it.

The Brain Is the Greatest Sex Organ

The greatest sex organ in a human being is not the genitals but the brain. When the brain is healthy, the body behaves; when the brain is unhealthy, the body misbehaves.

At every waking moment, two things are happening in the brain: electrical impulses and chemical impulses. The electrical impulses represent thoughts, and the chemical impulses represent emotions. Emotions follow thoughts, not the other way around; this is why renewing the mind matters so much. Pleasurable experiences produce feel-good chemicals such as serotonin, endorphins, and others. This is also why substances like cocaine and marijuana produce a euphoria that people chase repeatedly; they stir up the same kind of chemical reward. Anything sexual triggers this same chemical cocktail, made up of adrenaline, dopamine, oxytocin, norepinephrine, and endorphins.

The Cocktail of Hormones

1. Adrenaline

   Adrenaline is produced by fear, anxiety, panic, and risky excitement. It is responsible for the fight-or-flight response, and it also produces excitement, motivation, and energy. It is the first hormone released when a person becomes sexual, making the heart beat faster and the body feel energized.

2. Dopamine

   Dopamine follows adrenaline with a rush of pleasurable feeling. It causes the brain to focus entirely on the object of attraction and increases blood flow to the body, which is essential for sexual activity, particularly for men.

3. Oxytocin

   Oxytocin is a cleansing chemical. It clears away negative, downer chemicals such as cortisol that build up from painful or unsettling experiences. Oxytocin also binds the brain to the experience, which is why people often remember their first sexual encounter so vividly, and why addiction is so difficult to break: the brain stores the memory and returns to it whenever pain or discomfort arises. Oxytocin also creates a sense of well-being even in non-sexual touch, which is why a baby bonds so strongly to its mother through breastfeeding and screams when separated from her.

4. Norepinephrine

   Norepinephrine acts as an antidepressant. It triggers ejaculation in men, creates vigilance and concentration, helps form lasting memories, and induces euphoria and excitement while causing the heart to beat faster.

5. Endorphins

   Endorphins have a calming effect on the brain and body after climax. They reduce pain, induce pleasure, slow the heart rate, and free the mind from stress, an effect very similar to that of heroin.

Together, these hormones make sexuality the most powerful experience known to man. The early part of a sexual experience affects the brain similarly to cocaine, the oxytocin phase mirrors the effect of marijuana, and the latter part of the cycle mirrors heroin. Experiencing all three effects within a single act explains why sexuality is so easy to become addicted to, and why it is so easy to allow it to rule and motivate a person beyond reason.

The Law of Diminishing Returns

The danger lies in the law of diminishing returns: as pleasure is repeatedly pursued, tolerance builds and the same level no longer satisfies. This is the escalation process seen in addiction, illustrated by someone who starts with half a stick of a substance and must keep increasing the dose because the brain remembers the prior high and demands more. The brain was designed for pleasure, so it will keep pursuing whatever brings it.

The power of these chemicals must be matched by the power of spiritual intimacy. Without that, sexuality will become a person's god, easily tipping God out of their life. Taking sexuality to places outside of what God has commanded becomes the building block for future struggles and addiction.

Retraining the Brain

Struggle exists because the brain has been trained wrong, and every struggle is, at its root, a training of the brain. Breaking free requires untraining and retraining in a new direction. The mercy of God is that the brain is retrainable, not rigid; just as a person can be retrained to use a different hand after losing one, the brain can be reformatted.

1 Corinthians 2:16

Believers have the mind of Christ, and the mind of Christ can change the way a person thinks. This mind is not bestowed automatically; it must be deliberately developed and pursued over time.

Romans 12:2

Renewing the mind can literally heal the brain. As a person walks the path of sexual purity, understanding and harnessing the power of their sexuality rather than letting it rule them, their thinking changes. Where lustful thoughts once arose, the mind of Christ leads instead to acknowledging God's creation, praying for the purity of others, and moving into intercession rather than pursuit.

Taking every thought captive means submitting fantasies to Christ rather than entertaining them. Pornography and praying in tongues cannot coexist in the same space; one will give way to the other. Practical steps include bringing Christ directly into the struggle in prayer, committing scripture to memory as a mantra for moments of temptation, building accountability, and physically retraining the brain through consistent practice over time.

Questions and Answers

Responding to a question about retaining freedom after breaking an addiction, the encouragement was to remain in whatever process led to that freedom in the first place. Scripture warns against shifting the ancient landmarks; just as Joseph faced daily pressure from Potiphar's wife, struggles and addictions return daily and do not let up. Freedom must be reinforced daily rather than assumed once the danger feels distant; abandoning the boundaries that produced freedom reopens the door to relapse. On Thursday's continuation, the teaching would move into the neurological pathways that pull people back into old patterns, and the practical steps for guarding against them, with the consistent reminder that the word of God is what keeps those pathways in check.