We live in a lust-fulled culture. Lust is widely taught, especially in churches, as a man’s poison, but women and men are equally consumed by it.
Lust is a temptation of the human flesh that leads into an addiction just like other sins. It destroys relationships because is not Godly intimacy; it is demonic. Trying to get out of the snare of addiction can be difficult. Behavior modification can happen, but God’s standards go way beyond worldly rehab.
The world defines lust as part of an unchangeable genetic identity, but sins of the flesh are not an incurable disease. Spiritual heart transformation breaks free from the chains of bondage.
Just like the gospel that saves souls, the solution to sin is actually quite simple, but it’s not easy. It requires full accountability and surrender. It will cost you everything. It will renew you from the inside out and whittle you down until your heart is laid bare. You will battle and grieve the old version of you until you no longer need to look or visit the burial site.
Christians may be vigilant and tiptoe around your lust, but the world is fallen. It will be filled with darkness, sin, death, and debauchery. It isn’t ever going to revolve around your sinful desires. Former addicts live in a world filled with drugs and alcohol and manage to stay clean and sober. In the same way, this leaves no excuse for the lust-filled heart.
There are many widespread teachings that suggest out-of-control lust is a normal battle for men who have been reborn into Christ’s Kingdom, and when the temptation leads to outward sin, the responsibility is put onto women. The lust blame game has become the go-to method of avoiding accountability. However, the truth is that the entire world could cover up and all media could be shut down, and the sinful desire would still reside within the lust-filled heart.
If you are struggling with lust, you are not alone. The process of overcoming it can be complicated, but with the Lord leading the way, deliverance is possible. At the same time, asking for divine intervention requires turning away from lies and standing on the full truth. Refusing to define lust as what it is will only lead to more sabotage.
The reality is simple. You don’t have an ongoing struggle with lust because of what others are wearing and doing. You have an ongoing struggle with lust and you justify it because deep down, you love it. You enjoy it. You love it more than God. You don’t want to give up that piece of your pride and identity.
The key to overcoming lust is not forcing standards and boundaries on others. It’s wanting to surrender and nail it to the cross of Christ. It’s wanting to sacrifice the world’s pleasures to be free in the eternal bounds of righteousness.
It’s wanting it gone.
Jesus was beaten and flogged beyond recognition and became a living sacrifice on the cross, not to give suggestions or options for His people, but to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. He didn’t do it so His people would be free to mock Him by living in the sin that put Him there. God doesn’t want His people giving into lust of the flesh and crying victim. He wants them to yearn for holiness and the faith to conquer it, kill it, and cut it off.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. – Galatians 5:1
But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ – Matthew 19:26
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. – 1 Peter 2:11
For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. – 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. – James 1:14-15
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. – Matthew 5:28-30
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. – Galatians 5:16-24
