Lust

Lust is a sin defined as idolatry.

Colossians 3:5 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."

Lust is also defined as an eagerness to possess or to enjoy an overwhelming desire or craving.

Mark 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

A final definition of lust is a sinful longing, an inward sinful desire which leads to the falling away from God.

Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

The evil associated with lust is desiring something that is not in the will of the Lord. Sin itself can be defined as the lustful desires of human nature. Lust does not just include sexual desire; it includes anything that is desired more than God or anything that is desired that is not in accordance with His word (note).

Ephesians 4:18-19 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

Lust is not always a visible sin. Often it is only realized in a persons heart. If this is the case in your life, there is still great danger that you need to be aware of. The Bible tells us that lust in a persons heart is still an act of sin and we are still responsible for it.

Matthew 5: 27-28 "You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If you have ever lusted, please take the time right now to ask yourself why.

     How does this answer make you feel? Did you come up with a satisfying answer that made you feel comfortable about lusting, or were you left without one?

There is no satifying answer to why we lust. There is no answer that will make us feel better about lusting. With lusting there is the shame and torment of knowing that we are not in the will of God. There isn't any good reason for lusting. No good comes from lust at all. Infact, all lust does is destroy our relationships with others, and God.

     Do you think that you have a problem with lust?

Philippians 1:20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

If you lust, then Christ is not exalted in your body. If you lust, you have a problem. When there is lust in our lives, it eats away at our very soul and destroys it.

Proverbs 6:32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

Lust is a very consuming and controlling sin. Before lust can be effectively removed from our lives there has to be a realization that lust is a problem.

Take the time now and decide if lust is something that should be in your life. Ask yourself, "Can I live the life that God wants and still be living a life filled with lust?"

Lust does not enhances our life in any way, yet when it is in our life it is often seen very prevalently. Lust becomes prevalent because once it gets into our life it builds and becomes overpowering. It festers in our mind, body and soul until it has complete control and destroys everything. Because lust is so consuming we are often trick into thinking that lust has complete power over us and that there is no hope of redemption.

What we need to realize is, sin has no power over us. Once we dedicate our life to God, He becomes our master and we are no longer slaves to sin.

Romans 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin

Think back to the last time that you were caught in lust. Were you actively seeking God? Were you praising God? Were you worshiping Him?

When we lust we are walking in the flesh, and we do things that we do not want to do. But if we actively seek God, He will gaurd us against the sins of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16-18 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Lust bombards us and has the greatest influence over us when we are doing our "own thing" by walking in the flesh.

Think back to the last time that you were caught in lust. Where were you physically, emotionally, and spiritually? Should you be in that place? Does God want you to be in that place?

We all need to remove ourselves from places that are not physically, emotionally, or spiritually healthy and NEVER let ourselves go back. We need to walk in the Spirit and let God guild us. We need to let God be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths so that there is no posibility that we will be in a physical, mental, or spiritual state where we are susceptible to lust.

2 Samuel 22:29 You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.

Proverbs 6:23 For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

By letting God be our light we will not have to face the danger of living in the flesh.

In Galatians 5, the Bible warns of the danger of living in the flesh.

Galatians 5:19-21 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Those who live in the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God does not want us to live in sin. Infact, He calls us unto holiness.

1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

How can we be holy if we are living a life filled with lust?

We can't

WE CAN'T

In the passage above, Galatians 5:16, it tells us exactly how we can live the life that God calls us to: Walk in the Spirit.

This is not an easy thing to do. There are many distractions and obsticles that try to tear us away from the path that God has set before us. We have to constaintly seek God in prayer and in worship. We have to daily give ourselves over to Him. He has to have complete control in our lives for us to overcome lust.

When we ask God to save us, He enters into His temple, our body, and we take His sinlessness upon ourselves.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.

To remove lust, and other sinful desires from our lives we need to allow God to work in our lives. We have to let God keep us close to Him. By letting God have complete freedom to work in our lives we can have victory of the bondage caused by lust. It is only in Christ that we can live a life free of lust.

Romans 6:22-24 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Christ in us is sin-free - as sinless as he was here on earth! This is a powerful truth that can help us live the Christian life.

Once we have given over our sinful desires to God, we can worship God more fully. When there is no sin consuming our lives, we can then be completly filled by the spirit and offer our bodies as living sacrifices of praise unto God.

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.

This means that we stop. We stop lusting and caring out the sinful desires of our heart, and start letting God take completely over. If we are doing anything by our own will, then God is not in control. We have to let God work in our lives. Our responsibility is to actively seek out God and follow His will.

1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1 Thessalonians 4:2-8 For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

Lust is a very serious and consuming sin. If you are struggling with this sin (or any other sin), please go to God now and pray for His guidance. Lust is a sin that has to be uprooted and totally given over to God. The power to overcome this sin comes from Christ who strengthens us. God gives us the power to completely kill the sinful desires of our heart, and the power to have complete freedom from lust in our lives.