What Does the Bible Say about Lust?

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Introduction

Lust is one of these issues that most individuals are aware of but would not comfortably discuss in an open manner. It seems like a personal part, maybe even shameful and at times too uncomfortable to discuss in church. The Bible does not however shun it. The bible addresses lust on a frank and clear note, and when we know what God says about it, it can truly be liberating.

You may be struggling with it yourself, or you just may want to know the Christian perspective of lust; either way, this article is a stroll through the actually taught material of the Bible. Not to censure, but to open your eyes, to think straight, to walk upon in hope.

We have more grace than we know, and more wisdom in Scripture than we have prosecuted on this subject.

What Lust Means in the Bible

Is Lust Just About Sex?

Whenever the majority think of the word lust, what they first engage the mind of is sexual desire. And, even though sexual lust is indeed one of the primary subjects of the Bible, the term has a more extensive meaning. Lust in both the Old and the New Testaments is a strong longing or strong desire that has escaped the Godly restraint.

The most common Greek word that was translated into English as lust in the New Testament is the term of epithumia, which merely translates into a strong desire or great passion. The very term is not necessarily negative. Paul explains a responsibility in the same pattern about his desire to visit the Philippians. Lust is not sinful due to the desire, rather an object of the desire and the readiness to seek it outside God design.

The bible often talks about lust as a sexual desire which has entered a place that God did not want. Nonetheless, it also includes greed, envy and any desire which teaches an individual to sin. To discuss this we shall mainly concentrate on lust as being connected to sexual desire because that is where the majority of the biblical teachings revolve.

The Distinction between Love and lust.

What Does the Bible Specifically Say about the Difference between Love and Lust?

The best way to figure it out is by seeing how lust contrasts with love and this is one of the most useful ways to perceive lust in the bible. The two are similar, so realized internally, yet moving in absolutely opposite directions.

The kind of love explained in the Bible is patient not self-seeking. It gives. It protects. It is concerned with the wellbeing of its other person. In Love, the face of love does refer to the good of another even against oneself.

Lust on the other hand is a hundred percent egocentric. It takes. It consumes. It objectifies another human being as an object to enjoy personal pleasure instead of considering humans to be a creation in the image of God. Lust does not enquire, what is best to this person? It is the question of, What shall I receive of them?

It is on this reason that Jesus made such a striking statement during the Sermon on the mount. According to him, lust would already be an adultery in the heart just by looking at a person. He was not attempting at heaping up guilt. Newman had been unveiling the heart of the act, and showing that sin, instead of extending itself to the act, extends back to the desire. Bible and lust are inseparable since God is worried about what is happening within us and not about what is reflected outwardly.

Why Lust Is Spiritually Dangerous.

What Does Lust Do to an individual on spiritual note?

The bible approaches lust as a very real threat not in the effort by God to limit pleasure, but in the reality that lust is harmful. It ruins relationships, it corrupts our perceptions of other people and pulls us out of God.

James 1 describes the operation of sin in a sobering manner. When desire is left to run amok it conceives and is ultimately brought forth as sin. And sin which is totally developed causes death. A severe chain reaction. Lust is rarely a destination. It is more of a door leading to a darker and darker hall.

This has spiritual aspect as well. In this case, Paul in his letters notes that sexual sin is not the same as other sins by being concerned with the body which he refers to as temple of the holy spirit. A war at a profound spiritual level is occurring when a Christian yields himself or her to lust. The individual is letting something else fill his or her mind and heart that is supposed to be filled with God.

Lust also develops some form of addiction in the long run. The more that it is fed, the more that it demands. That is why its Scripture always instructs not to resist but to run away. Other things had better be run than be met face to face.

The way Lust is Affecting the Heart and Mind.

Another less apparent influence of lust is its impact on the thought process of an individual. The thoughts are disciplined by what one is thinking about. When lust is constantly stimulated it gradually reprograms the way one views other people and the thought process of relationships and even the self.

The Bible talks much of mind guarding. In his letter to the Romans, Paul differentiates between mind set upon the flesh and highlighting the mind set upon the Spirit. They do not merely pertain to theological abstractions. They refer to two quite different ways of living and perception of the world. Lust disturbs mind, makes it unsatisfied and self centered. When one is molded by the Spirit, his mind is at peace and has meaning and real relationship.

And there is the actual price of all this. The reality is that lust has the ability to disorder our actual love. It is difficult to view someone as a complete human being, when they continue treating other people like simple objects of lust. That hurts marriages. It strains friendships. The skill to be self-loving is eroded through time.

Warningss on Lust in the Bible.

What The Bible Has to Say To Beware of.

This is not a vague point in the bible about lust. Its threat is direct and constant between the Old and the New Testament. Proverbs, in particular, occupies much of an emblematic portion of addressing young males on the subject of how enticent sexual passion can be. The use of language is so colorful due to the fact that the author has an idea on how overwhelming and dizzying such a desire can be.

Peter informs his readers to avoid lusts of the flesh stating that it is the foe of the soul. Paul continues to mentions sexual indiscipline among other grievous offenses every time he discusses the type of life that does not qualify one to the Kingdom of God. These could be cautious warnings, which do not in any way humiliate us; it is there in the Bible, and lust is constantly at work to hinder our prosperity.

In one of the most dramatic Scriptures, Job discusses his vow of creating a covenant with his eyes. He understands that he gets to appear like that because he chooses to look at what he wants. The same wisdom seems not less applicable in the modern world as it used to be thousands of years ago.

How Christians Making Watches Can Keep on their thoughts.

What Does Temptation and Self- Control in Christianity Look Like?

Lust is discouraged in the Bible, yet it provides practical strategy on how to guard the heart and mind. His teaching to the Philippians is a well-known sentence by Paul: think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable. It is not about turning our eyes and ears, it is only about consciously being selective about what occupies our minds.

Renewing the mind is connected with temptation as well as self-control. This renewal is discussed in Romans 12 that speaks of transformation. It is not really an event, it is slow and continuous. It occurs in everyday life, by praying, being exposed to the Scripture, sincere communal living and making conscious decisions about what we subject ourselves to.

And also bear in mind that Jesus was tempted. Hebrews claims that He tempted Him in all ways, like we are, yet He did not sin. Then it is not the struggle with which Jesus was not well acquainted. He is a High Priest and experiences the pressure of temptation internally.

Ways of overcoming LUST as a Christian in a practical way.

How to Overcome Lust: a Christian, the Steps that actually work.

It is important to know what the Bible says but a majority of people require practical mediums. These are some of the scripturally based strategies that were useful to a great number of Christians.

First, be honest with God. It goes without saying, though it does not mean that people should remain silent in their struggle due to shame. Here we are reminded in Psalm 139 that God knows every thought. Taking it to Him in the prayer has not been a new form of information to Him, it is the decision not to keep covering and instead go about talking with Him.

Second, say the truth to another individual. James 5 is asking one another to confess your sins and pray to one another so that you feel healed. Shame spreads in secrecy. Having a friend, mentor, or pastor whom you can walk with is a big difference. Responsibility does not mean supervision, it is sociability.

Third, control your inputs. When some sites, applications, programs, or relationships always contribute to lust, the biblical reaction to this is to abandon it. The concept is unambiguous: there are things that should be eliminated, but they are difficult to surrender.

Fourth, change, not just oppose. The force of will is something that fails in the long-run. The aim is not only to eliminate lustful thoughts, but to mold an actual mind that thinking is directed towards something better. Nothing fills out a schedule more than time in Scripture, worship, and prayer do--this transforms what you love.

A Life of Pure and Self-control.

What Is So Sexually Helpful in Making a Life Pure?

Sexual purity in the biblical meaning of the word does not entail not being touchable or having an immaculate history. It is an action of living the present by living in line with how God intended sex, relationship, and body. It is more of an attitude than mere actions.

Paul writes in Titus of the grace of God which saved us to say no to unholiness and live upright lives in self-control and godliness. Will power is no engine, but grace. Self-control in the Christian life comes as a result of increasing knowledge of loving you are and how good God actually designed you to be.

It does not imply that the state of purity will never again tempt. It imperatives that you are heading somewhere. You stumble then you rise and you repent and go on. It is not living a moral life, but being faithful to the spirit.

It is also a lifestyle that alters your approach towards other people. Once lust gets its hand off you, you find something real changes in your relationship to people. You begin viewing it as God views it people of great value and dignity. A change in that point of view is among the most lovely fruits of walking in purity.

Final Reflection

In today devotions we were delving into what the Bible says about lust and I have to say it was not to put you to the slams. It is more so about breaking the fog to feel really free of those desires. Ok, lust will bring a momentary gratification, but it will stuff their empty space with nothing. When you consider how God wants you to have desire, love, and the body, it will actually lead you to what would be really fulfilling.

When you happen to be in an actual battle at the moment, don’t think you are alarmed and beyond help--in-spit-spot. Think back to where in John 8, Jesus reveals to that woman found in the act of adultery to go and never sin again but, nonetheless, he does not slam her but he balances her sins and grace up and down. That however is the truth of the matter: there is no supervision of the sin, but no trampling down of the person either.

The pitch of God is become purity, which is not to carry. I’d say it’s a solid gift. It is not that he is coaxing you to dump something good in your life, but is asking you to replace the empty stuff with something real. It is a craft that is really worth creating, day in, day out, with a little assistance of the Spirit.

In case this work of art awoke something in you, perhaps turn on your phone and do nothing so small today. Take a text to an acquaintance you put your trust in, open up your Bible in a common chapter, or simple pray on the lecture hall floor. It is that first honest step that leads to freedom and frankly enough, God is already at your elbow side.