Photo by Kamesh S S on Unsplash
By Mike Chaffin
For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:16
The seventh deadly sin is lust. Wikipedia defines lust as ‘a psychological force producing intense wanting or longing for an object, or circumstance fulfilling the emotion. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality, love, money or power. It can take such mundane forms as the lust for food as distinct from the need for food.’
This sin is heinous and rampant. It can stab us through the heart or cause us to die a little every day. It is such a scourge that Job, the most upright human to ever live, said,
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. Job 31:1
Lust isn’t only deadly on its own, it is also a trigger for other sins. One, the sin of gluttony as pointed out by the Wikipedia definition. Peter defines several other sins we commit regularly before coming to Christ.
For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 1 Peter 4:3
For many Christians, lust is the catalyst, or trigger, for these kinds of fleshly struggles. Also, psychologists have pointed out people addicted to social media live or die by the amount of likes or reposts they get due to the endorphins released in the brain that cause pleasure. We lust for that high.
Jesus taught the most profound lesson on this when He spoke on the deadly sin of lust being the same as committing the sin we lust after.
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:28
Our war with the flesh is won or lost by the condition of our heart and its right relationship with Jesus Christ. If we are failing in our battle with lust, it is likely due to our lack of prayer time and fellowship with Christ. Furthermore, any time we dwell on, or even accidentally faced with something that triggers lust, it gets a stronger toe hold in our life.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to overcome the sin of lust. I lay it at the foot of the cross. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I can stand strong when necessary and flee when required. In Jesus name, amen.
