UST continued from Blog 1…

Dealing with lust.

How do you deal with lust? How do you reciprocate when confronted with it? How should you react when influenced? What if you chose to give in and enjoy the ride? How do you overcome it?

Lust is a camouflage for love. As such, it seeks to imitate love, by displaying stronger emotions, but with degenerative values. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 depicts the characteristics of love (Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud, or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance). This definition can be reversed to obtain evidence of lust; lust is rude, disloyal, self-centered, impatient, crude, disrespectful, condemns and abandons.

Galatians 5:17 states that our desires is a composite of two forces; the sinful nature & the desires of the Holy Spirit (law at work). And these two forces are constantly fighting each other, so that you do not carry out your good intentions. (There is a parallel of sentiments expressed by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:19: ‘For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.’ Depicts that there is a constant war taking place on the inside, but when we give in to the sinful desire, Romans 7:20 states that it is no longer I, but sin living in me that is influencing. As such, when we give in to a sinful/evil desire, it is not us, but a root of sin. Now, if we can only locate the root of the problem, we can deal with it!

Remember the story in blog 1 of  Amnon and Tamar, Kings David’s children who succumbed to illicit sexual morality? The Apostle Paul suggests that lust stems from a root of sin. Let’s examine this. Prior we discussed how Amnon’s desire for his half-sister Tamar probably began as an admiration, and grew into desire, then lust. There is no mention that Amnon lived a promiscuous lifestyle, or was in the habit of raping. He just had the ‘hots’ for Tamar! He was the King’s son, he could have almost anyone he wanted, but why was his desire only for his half-sister? The answer is simple; there is a root of lustful sin. 

Remember, Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife who was bathing on the rooftop in the middle of the day? King David, should have been at war, but was on the rooftop looking out, and could not resist her naked beauty. He sent to fetch her and slept with her. Then David had her valiant husband, Uriah put on the front line in battle to ensure his death, because Bathsheba was pregnant, and he could not trick Uriah into thinking it was his. So God turned Uriah’s death as a curse against King David; household rebellion and open sexual immorality. Is it possible that the root of Amnon’s problem was a generational curse from an open door through his father. Wow! (2 Samuel 11-12).

Let’s examine this further. Was that the root, or a branch? Is it possible that the root predated even that episode with King David and Bathsheba, because mere observation augments that King David struggled with Lust such that he ‘just had to have Bathsheba’ although he was the King, and could have almost any woman. In addition, why did King David committed such a rebellious act against God whom he loved so much, that he danced half-naked with all his might unashamedly unto God? (2 Samuel 6). What would compel someone whom even God said was ‘a man after his own heart’ to fetch another man’s wife for sex’? Temptation? I know a handful of people that would refuse under those circumstances, but I also know others that would do like King David did. What makes one more prone to act upon lustful sexual desires, than another? If we can trace this disposition, that would be progress. Also, why does it appear that men of great power and influence are most susceptible to act upon lustful temptations, or is it that nobody really cares if a ‘no-named’ person exhibits similar tendencies?

In Psalm 51:5, King David makes a startling confession, ‘Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, because in sin did my mother conceive me.’ Alluding to the fact that he was born out of an adulterous union, and providing a clue to the original root of the Lust that he struggled with. So you can have a passion for the Lord, love God, receive a good report from God, and still struggle with foundation issues, that could not just affect you, but adversely affect your offspring/seed . Wow! Sometimes, the root of Lust can start with you; suppressed sexual desires converted to imagination, masturbation, fornication etc. Or from a desire to explore or rebel. Resulting in a lifestyle of promiscuity, and unhealthy relationships, since the foundation of the relationship becomes sex. Although sex should be a major part of a healthy relationship, a relationship should not revolve around it… this cannot be sustained.

So Amnon was predisposed to lust, because the Devil had a legal right to inflict him with a ‘Spirit’ of lust. I do not use this term loosely, but rather intentionally. Because desire that utilizes the imagination to conceive fantasies, and then acted upon is usually influenced by something greater. Biblicaly, when someone is compelled beyond their will to perform an act; the Devil is often responsible, since James 1:13 clearly states that God does not tempt anyone.

For clarity, romantic physical / sexual attraction does not fall into a category of lust. It is okay for a ‘husband/wife’ to intensely desire each other, and entertain mutual lustful thoughts. However, it is not ‘kosher’ for this to be encouraged otherwise, due to the fact that persons engaged in this behavior may not necessarily commit for a long term relationship/marriage. What is the big deal? Because, lust war against your soul (1 Peter 2:11). That is, lust influences your emotions in such an overpowering way, that it captivates your soul. Which in turn burns images influenced by lust, to the mind. The mind is like a record player that recycles the images captured by the soul.

As such, a broken relationship can have a disastrous influence on future relationships, because your mind recycles old images. As such, you can be in a relationship with someone that you genuinely care for, but the excitement of the past still haunts you to the point where you can be having physical sex with your spouse, but mental sex with another etc. In an effort to contain the length of this literature, I will conclude by saying, when confronted with Lust, do like Joseph and ‘Run’ despite the lure of the temptation. If Joseph had given in to Potiphar’s wife, he would have missed his destiny. Is short term pleasure worth a lifetime of losses? 

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves (Galatians 5:16). Let us win the battle within by learning to cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity ‘every’ thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Peace and Grace be multiplied to you in Jesus name!