Biblical Answers for Lust
Principles for Overcoming Lust
Perhaps one of the areas of life most prone to difficulty in our society
today is the struggle to overcome lust in our lives.
Lust is a selfish, consuming, counterfeit for love.
It has been reported that at a Promise Keepers
meeting two-thirds of the men admitted to having periodic struggles with
sexual lust. When this is added to the problems in our society over a quest
for money, eating, and buying things, the magnitude of this problem becomes
readily apparent.
But what does this word lust mean?
In the Greek three words can be translated lust.
Orexis is translated lust in
conjunction with homosexuality and means, “a desire, longing, craving for,
an eager desire, lust, or appetite.”
Pathos can also be translated as
inordinate affection or lust.
It means, “whatever befalls one, whether it be sad or joyous.”
But it can also mean a passionate deed, either good
or bad. Epithumia
is translated as lust, concupiscence, desire, or to lust after.
It means a “desire, a craving, a longing, a desire
for what is forbidden, a lust, and it denotes a strong desire of any kind,
both good and bad.” It
is many times preceded by a descriptive term indicating the type of desire.
1.
When our basic needs of the self for worth, significance,
security, and acceptance are not fulfilled in life, the can lead to strong
desires or lusts. A
desire becomes a lust when we attempt to meet it through
the flesh.
Since meeting our needs through the flesh can never fully
satisfy us, we enter a never-ending cycle of wanting more and more.
Ge 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food
(physical needs), and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes (wanting things
that make us feel secure) , and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise
(worth and significance) , she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (love or acceptance)
2.
Our basic lusts are for sensuous desires (love), things
(that make us feel secure), and worth and significance.
1 Jo 2:15
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.
3.
Lust resides in the heart of a man who wants to run his
own life and meet his own needs.
Ps 81:11
But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would
none of me.
4. Lust can bring dire consequences.
Ro 1:27 And likewise also the men,
leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
5. Lust becomes stronger when we are told not to do something.
Ro 7:7 What shall we say then? Is
the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had
not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Ro 7:8
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me
all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
6.
God commands us not to lust after evil things.
1 Co 10:6
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should
not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
7.
Those who do not know God try to meet their needs through
lust, which results in taking advantage of others and abuse.
1 Th 4:4
That every one of you should know how to possess
his vessel in sanctification
and honour;
8. Lusts dissipate our lives and makes us unfruitful for God.
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.
9.
Lusts make us vulnerable to temptation and
threaten to destroy the quality of this life and the life to come.
1 Ti 6:9
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and
perdition.
2 Ti 3:6
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead
captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
10. Lust results in a loss of spiritual discernment.
2 Ti 4:3 For the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
11.
The devil, who is filled with lust, can take such
advantage of our vulnerability to lust, that it can even lead to lying and
murder.
Jo 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it.
Tit 3:3
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
hateful, and hating one another.
12.
Lust wars against our very soul:
mind, will, emotions, and spirit.
1 Per 2:11
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and
pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
13.
Those who continue in lust become more and more corrupt as
time passes.
2 Pe 2:10
But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they
are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Jude 1:16
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own
lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons
in admiration because of advantage.
14.
Lust can result in God giving us up to our own uncleanness
so that we will learn from our consequences.
Ro 1:24
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
15.
Lust eventually leads to sin and death.
Jas 1:14
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own
lust, and enticed.
16. Our vulnerability to lust is based on the ignorant belief that fulfilling our lust can really meet our needs.
1 Pe 1:14 As obedient children, not
fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
17. The antidote for lust is believing and acting on the promise of God that He will meet all our needs. Since God’s love and provision truly meets our needs, we are fully satisfied and are no longer motivated to seek to meet our needs through the flesh.
2 Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust.
Jas 4:2
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and
cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
18.
We must put off all lust from our lives.
Eph 4:22
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Col 3:5
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry:
Tit 2:12
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
19.
In addition to putting off lust and any provision to
fulfill our lust, we must seek God, purify our heart, and replace our lust
with an intimate relationship with Jesus.
2 Ti 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Ro 13:14 But put ye on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts
thereof.
20.
Either, we will live in lust or in the will of God; we
cannot have both!
1 Pe 4:2
That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the
flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
21.
We are to do whatever it takes to eradicate lust from our
lives.
Mt 5:28
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust
after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
22. The ultimate answer to overcoming lust is to walk according to the spirit.
Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in
the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Counseling Methods and Techniques
1.
We must view lust as poison.
The client will not usually be victorious over lust
until he realizes that he must confront lust before it has taken hold in the
mind, will, or emotions.
Consequently, I suggest the analogy to clients that lust is poison.
We can not take even one drop of it or we will
eventually die. Just as
one drink leads to another, so one taste of lust brings us into a bondage
that will destroy our spiritual discernment, our desire for God, and our
motivation to accomplish His will in our lives.
Lust really brings death to all that is good in
life.
2.
Life has only two modes or experiences:
freedom or bondage.
I explain to the client that he will
either experience complete freedom or he will be in
bondage. It is not true
that he can have a small taste of lust and return immediately to a life of
freedom from lust. Even
one taste will so affect him that it will take a significant recovery effort
to escape again from the bondage that he has brought upon himself.
This is because lust affects our will and our desire
to do what is right and undermines our ability to do it.
Sometimes I use a skit our drama team performed at an outreach concert as an illustration. In the first scene, a man walked onto the stage with a small monkey on his shoulder. A second actor tried to warn him about “monkeys” but he liked this one and it could not hurt anything since it was so small. In the second scene the monkey had grown to significantly but the man explained that he had it completely under control and it did whatever he wanted it to do. Again he was warned, but he refused to listen. Finally, in the third scene a huge ape lumbered onto the stage holding the man upside down by the ankles. He said, “Now I see what you were warning me about.” Unfortunately, many of us will not listen until we first have to experience the bondage that results from entertaining a little lust in our lives.
A Model for
Overcoming Lust
The
word lust means, “a strong craving or desire, or an intense sexual
appetite.” (The New
Webster’s Concise Dictionary of the English Language, 1997, edited by Sidney
Landau) Lust is the
flesh’s counterfeit for love.
It is a strong selfish desire that leads to addiction, takes a man
captive or is the basis for besetting sins.
It is usually associated with sexual sin, which is
an attempt to meet needs for love through the flesh.
Lot’s first-born son, through incest with his eldest
daughter, was Moab. The
Moabites were those who lead the Israelites into fornication.
Therefore, I believe that Moab represents lust
Love and lust are very different.
Love is personal, lust is impersonal.
Love is focused on a particular object; lust is
unfocused and capable of fixing on almost any object.
Love tends toward faithfulness, lust is a wanderer.
Love seeks stability, lust is short-lived and
mercurial. Love is an
affair of the mind and heart, lust is an affair of the emotions and
hormones. Love is a
matter of giving, lust is a matter of taking.
Lust is increased in strength by a lack in other
areas. Lust is not the
same feeling or drive as love and, therefore, is not satisfied or resolved
by married love. Lust
depletes our drive, makes married sex less stimulating, and relationships
less needed. Lust is
like a drug and requires more to meet its need.
In lust, evil provides more stimulation because it
is really false intimacy.
Lust destroys true intimacy.
(Smalley, 1988)
The model for deliverance from lust is found in the story of Ehud.
It begins in Judges Chapter 3.
1. Entertaining evil opens a door to lust.
Jud 3:12
And the children of Israel did evil (wickedness; to do hurt) again in the
sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon (calf-like or idol of
food and profit) the king of Moab (lust) against Israel, because they had
done evil in the sight of the LORD.
2. No matter how long we have been controlled by lust, we can have a new beginning. The number eighteen is a combination or ten and eight. Ten stands for human infirmity and failure and eight stands for a new beginning. It is our choice.
Jud 3:14 So
the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years
3. The key to deliverance from lust comes through believing that we are so favored of God that He will meet all of our needs, thanking Him for what He has done and being willing to die to our immediate gratification in order to be fruitful. In order to win the victory over lust we will have to have an unusual approach. Ehud means, “I will give thanks or strong.” He was a Benjamite which means, “son of the right hand or favored of God” from Gera which means, “a grain,” (which must be willing to die to produce fruit). Ehud was left-handed which suggests he had an unusual approach or outlook on life.
Jud 3:15
But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up
a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera
a Benjamite a man left-handed: and
by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.
4. We
must make the truth of God’s Word a a part of our character and strength.
I believe that the two-edged dagger stands for the Word of God.
It was an arms length (cubit) long suggesting that victory is
within his grasp and hidden under his clothing (character) on his right
thigh which stands for strength.
Jud 3:16 But
Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges (God’s Word), of a cubit length
and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh (strength).
5.
We cannot win the battle over lust by directly confronting it
in our own strength and saying that we will not do its bidding any more.
Doing this only make it worse.
Lust must be dealt with by trusting God for deliverance.
Ehud did not confront Eglon, but acted as if he was accepting
Eglon’s domination by presenting him a present.
Jud 3:17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon [was] a very fat man. (the character of lust)
Jud 3:18
And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people
that bare the present.
6. We must turn back from our secret idols or the objects of our lust. Lust itself can be an idol if we see it as a means to make our lives more exciting and fulfilled.
Jud 3:19
But he himself turned again from the quarries that [were] by Gilgal (where
idols were made), and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who
said, Keep silence (lust desires secrecy). And all that stood by him went
out from him. (Lust wants it all
for itself.)
7. Lust
must be killed with the truth of the Word of God directed to the seat of the
hunger. Ehud stabbed Eglon in
the stomach with the dagger of the Word of God.
Lust is based on inordinate desire.
We must use God’s Word to convince ourselves that we do not have
to have the things of this world to be happy.
Jud 3:20 And
Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for
himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he
arose out of [his] seat. 21
And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger (God’s Word) from his
right thigh, and thrust it into his belly (seat of hunger):
22 And the haft also
went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could
not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out.
8. We must close forever the door to lust and lock it with accountability. When we realize the filth we encounter through lust, we will never want to go back to it. In the Hebrew, the word for “parlour” is better-interpreted “latrine.” To escape Ehud had to climb through and experience the filth of the latrine. This is much clearer in the New Living Translation (NLT) below.
Jud 3:23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. (AV)
Jud 3:23
Then Ehud closed and locked the doors and climbed down the latrine and
escaped through the sewage access. (NLT)
9. We
can use the shame of the past as motivation to help us make a final end to
lust and its allies. We can
tell others that we have decided to entertain lust in our lives no longer.
Jud 3:27 And
it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of
Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and
he before them.
10. We need to block lust’s access to our life and not let any of it escape.
Jud 3:28
And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your
enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took
the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.
11.
Lust can be completely defeated.
Jud 3:29
And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand (the infirmity of man)
men, all lusty (fat), and all men of valour (strength); and there escaped
not a man.
12. You can have victory for a lifetime. Without lust, you can have rest.
Jud 3:30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
Steps for Overcoming Lust
1.
We must believe
and thank God that He will meet our needs and we must be willing to die to
our lust. It is our enemy.
2.
We must realize that God favors us no matter what we
may have done.
3.
We must understand that lust meets only the
temporary desires of the flesh and never really satisfies our deepest needs.
4. We must make the truth of God a
part of our character.
5. Victory is within our grasp,
but we must use our sword (God’s Word) to get the victory.
6.
We cannot defeat lust by trying to stop it in
our own
7.
We must use the Word of God to attack the seat
of the
8.
We must close and lock the door to lust.
Accountability is necessary for long-term victory.
9.
We must escape
from our idols of lust and put as much distance between them and us as
possible.
10. We can use the shame
of our past as motivation to
For videos on this subject select the links below:
1. Principles for Overcoming Lust (Principles Lesson 5) [Start 22:38]
2. The Model of Ehud for Overcoming Lust (Faith Therapy Lesson 9) [Start 37:55]
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