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Lust

by Jerry Ousley  
6/01/2011 / Christian Living

Easton's Bible Dictionary defines lust as being "Sinful longing; the inward sin which leads to falling away from God." It also says, "Lust, the origin of sin, has its place in the heart, not of necessity, but because it is the center of all moral forces and impulses and of spiritual activity." In other words, lust isn't some strong physically necessary reaction but comes first from within the heart of man the seat of our soul. We are not compelled to do it naturally but it must be given thought and then put into action.

That being said I also want to say that we most commonly think of lust as being a sexual "thing." It is that but it is also the desire within us for anything. Lust is the origin of sin. John described it best in 1 John 2:15-17 which says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." So what is lust? It is the desire or longing for someone or something to the point that we covet. If lust is dwelt on in our minds long enough it will lead to action and if we allow lust to continue in us we will eventually do whatever it takes to fulfill that sinful desire.

In this passage of scripture three categories of sin are listed and all sin falls under one of these three headings. It is the lust of the flesh the desire to pamper and take care of the human body, the lust of the eyes to have those things or those people that the eyes see and long for, and the pride of life the desire to be popular; to have fame and control over other people.

While engaged my wife and I almost gave in to lust. I tell this story because we are all human. We all are tempted from time to time. We knew that we were going to be married. We had set a date and it really wasn't that far away. However we were also both Christians and knew not only from the teaching of the church but also from the prodding of the Holy Spirit inside of us that somehow we had to wait. So I'm not saying that we were special with God, or had any uncanny superhuman resistance ability. The desire was there. I would think, "We're engaged and we're going to be married. How does a piece of paper saying we are legal make any difference?" Yes, I asked myself all the questions that most others ask. It wasn't easy, not at all. It seemed other couples our age were doing it; why did we have to be so different? But we kept ourselves pure and you know what; our coming together became a very special event on our wedding night, and I firmly believe that's the experience God wants all couples to enjoy.

Naturally I can't address all of sin today, not in the short time we have. So I'm going to emphasis sexual desire because that is one that is so misused and abused in our modern world, and actually has been all down through time. For far too long the Church has treated this subject as taboo and in so doing we have allowed the world to teach our children. No wonder they are so sexually active these days. We watch TV and it is expected by the third date to have sex. But who am I kidding; on many of the shows they're in the sack together on the first date!

Why is it so wrong if it is a natural desire? It is because God made us different from the animal kingdom. Some animals mate for life, others seek a new mate each year, while others just live for the moment and "love the one they're with." But it is not to be so with mankind. When we experience sex with a woman (if we are a man) or a man (if we are a woman), there is something going on that extends way beyond the physical experience. There is a spiritual exchange between the two that God wants us to save for just the right person. It is the beginning of becoming one flesh one person. When we abuse that then each time we experience sex with another we are making it more and more difficult to ever find that one with whom we are to become one flesh. I'm not saying it is impossible because we serve a mighty God who can do anything. But just remember what Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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