The devil has many weapons at his disposal, but few are more effective than lust. Lust is an equal opportunity offender. It affects people from all walks of life. It cares nothing about our social or economic status. Lust seeks to lure us into other sins that further deepen the devil’s hold on our lives. Lust leads to fornication, adultery, pornography, prostitution and the like.
Like the professional marketer that he is, the devil markets lust in a variety of ways. Go to the grocery store, and you will find magazines at the checkout counter with seductively clothed women on the cover. This theme continues but with greater intensity and openness in television, movies, social media, emails, texts and other forms of communications.
God gives us several scriptures to help us combat lust. Here are a few.
” So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18
“Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.” Proverbs 6:25
“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Romans 13:14
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Romans 6:12
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28
Note 2 self: Yes, I am a Christian man, but I am still a man. Like anyone else, I too am susceptible to lust. James 4:7 states the following: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” As a result, I have developed the two-second rule. If I find myself staring at a woman for longer than two seconds, I turn away and begin thinking about Jesus on the cross. Staring longer than two seconds starts to generate unhealthy and sinful thoughts. To be clear, I don’t believe God has a problem with us admiring the beauty of others. It becomes a problem when our thoughts begin to take us places we should not be. Remember, prolonged thoughts usually turn into actions.
So, to the question, is LUST your middle name? I try very hard for it not to be.
Blessings to you all, my friends.
Daniel
The Note 2 Self Guy