SIN

Part 4 -- LUST

We can lust after many things -- power, position, material possessions --, but lust most often refers to sexuality. Healthy sexual desire is not sin, for we are created by YHVH to enjoy sexual pleasure within the boundaries of committed marriage -- Genesis 2:23-25. But when that desire is fuelled by selfishness it becomes lust. Lust views another person as merely an object of sexual pleasure and disregards Elohim’s standard for sexual behaviour

WHY IS LUST SUCH A DANGEROUS TENDENCY?

LUST CAN DESTROY ANY NORMAL DESIRE.
So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah --- the graves of craving -- because they buried the people there who had craved meat from Egypt. -- Numbers 11:34. Craving or lusting is more than inappropriate sexual desire. It can be an unnatural or greedy desire for anything -- sports, knowledge, possessions, influence over others. In this circumstance, Elohim punished the Israelites for craving good food! Their desire was not wrong; the sin was in allowing that desire to turn into greed. They felt it was their right to have fine food and they could think of nothing else. When you become preoccupied with something until it affects your perspective on everything else, you have moved from desire to lust.

LUST CAN LEAD TO BAD DECISION MAKING.
Then Delilah pouted, how can you say you love me when you don’t confide in me? You’ve made fun of me three times now and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong! So day after day she nagged him until he couldn’t stand it any longer. Finally, Samson told her his secret. My hair has never been cut, he confessed, for I was dedicated to YHVH as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me and I would become as weak as anyone else. -- Judges 16:15-17. Samson was deceived because he wanted to believe Delilah’s lies. Although he could strangle a lion, he could not smother his burning lust and see Delilah for who she really was. How can you keep your desire for love and sexual pleasure from deceiving you?
1. You must decide what kind of person you will love before passion takes over. Determine whether a person’s character and faith in Elohim are as desirable as his or her physical appearance.
2. Because most of the time you spend with your spouse will not involve sex, your companion’s personality, temperament and commitment to solve problems must be as gratifying as his or her kisses.
3. Be patient. The second look often reveals what is beneath the pleasant appearance and attentive touch.

LUST ITSELF IS A SINFUL BEHAVIOUR.
But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart. -- Matthew 5:28. The Old Testament Law said that it is wrong for a person to have sex with someone other than his or her spouse -- Exodus 20:14. But Yeshua said that the desire to have sex with someone other than your spouse is mental adultery and thus sin. Yeshua emphasized that if the act is wrong, then so is the intention. To be faithful to your spouse with your body but not your mind is to break the trust so vital to a strong marriage. Yeshua is not condemning natural interest in the opposite sex or even healthy sexual desire, but the deliberate and repeated filling of one’s mind with fantasies that would be evil if acted out.

LUST IS OFTEN USED AS AN EXCUSE FOR FURTHER SIN.
Some think that if lustful thoughts are sin, why shouldn’t a person go ahead and do the lustful actions too? Acting out sinful desires is harmful in several ways:
1. It causes people to excuse sin rather than to stop sinning;
2. It destroys marriages;
3. It is deliberate rebellion against Elohim’s Word; and
4. It always hurts someone else in addition to the sinner.
Sinful action is more dangerous than sinful desire and that is why desires should not be acted out. Nevertheless, sinful desire is just as damaging to righteousness. Left unchecked, wrong desires will result in wrong actions and turn people away from Elohim.

IF LUST DOES NOT INVOLVE ACTUAL PHYSICAL BEHAVIOUR, WHY IS IT WRONG?
Luke 11:33-36: -- Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. -- When lust is allowed to take up residence in our minds it tends to consume our thoughts and the Light of Elohim is pushed aside. 1 Kings 11:3: -- He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. And sure enough, they led his heart away from Elohim. -- Solomon’s lust eventually led not only to promiscuity but to his turning away from Elohim.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LUST AND LOVE?
2 Samuel 13:1-19: -- Amnon wouldn’t listen to her and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her. -- Love does not take that which is not offered. Lust takes what it wants regardless of the other’s needs or desires. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: -- Love is patient and kind... Love does not demand its own way. -- Love is patient and kind. Lust is impatient and rude.

HOW CAN I KEEP MY DESIRES FROM BECOMING LUST?
Matthew 5:27-29: -- Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart. -- We can prevent lust from taking root in our minds by avoiding that second look. Philippians 4:8-9: -- Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. -- When we fill our hearts and minds with purity and goodness, lust finds no place to dwell. Song of Songs 7:1-11: -- Oh, how delightful you are, my beloved; how pleasant for utter delight! -- Elohim created us to experience the joys of sexual intimacy. The Song of Songs reminds us that our pleasure is truly fulfilling only when pursued in accordance with YHVH’s standards of purity and love.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO LUST FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN PHYSICAL PLEASURE?
Job 22:24: -- Give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river. Exodus 20:17: -- Do not covet your neighbour’s house. -- There are many things that we -- lust -- for. Power, wealth and material things all can become objects of our lust.