Hi and welcome back to another episode of Perspective For Today.
Today’s topic affects so many people. It’s a battle for many that is hard to win. I can tell you from personal experience that this battle can ruin your life, it can destroy relationships, it can cost you your job, tarnish your reputation, and leave you feeling unfulfilled. Today we are going to talk about lust and how we can have victory over it.
Today’s key verse comes from Ephesians,
Ephesians 5:3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
Let’s just break this down.
Sexual immorality refers to physical sexual behavior. Behavior that includes premarital sex, adultery, and any other sexual behavior that is outside the marriage covenant between a man and a woman.
Impurity and covetousness take place in the mind. Impurity occurs when we feed our minds pornography, scantily clothed individuals, and other assorted or should I say distorted images.
Normally we would think of covetousness as desiring things with financial value. But in this context it refers to an insatiable greed to satisfy one’s sexual appetite outside the bounds of marriage.
Maybe you’re lust has never been acted on. You might rationalize that it’s not hurting anyone. But it is hurting your relationship with God. In reality your lustful imaginings have caused you to commit adultery. As can be plainly seen in,
Matthew 5:27 You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Lust cannot be contained.
It doesn’t just stay locked up in our minds. Eventually we will act on it and when we do we’ve committed a sin against our own bodies. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. When you defile that Temple you grieve the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
In today’s society it is hard to stay sexually pure.
You would be hard-pressed to find good wholesome shows on television. Gone are the good old days of Andy Griffith, and Ozzie and Harriet. Today’s shows push the boundaries of moral decency and decorum to a level that is borderline pornographic.
Advertisements on TV use one tool constantly to get you to buy their products. One thing advertising agencies have learned is that sex sells.
The internet has become a cesspool of filth and lewd content. As Christians we struggle to find good wholesome entertainment. There are good choices for our viewing pleasure, but we need to seek them out, and not settle for what the mainstream media would feed us.
So how can we have victory over lust and live a life of sexual purity?
By filtering what we see and hear. A good companion episode on this subject is episode 5 titled Renewing Your Mind.
https://perspectivefortoday.com/2020/12/07/renewing-your-mind/
We are called by God to be set apart from the rest of the world and not give in to sexual temptations.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
Verse four says that we need to know how to control our bodies in Holiness and honor. When we lust after someone we dishonor our spouse. We make a mockery of our marriage
Hebrews 13:4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
To live a life of sexual purity we need to set boundaries.
If you are dating you need to draw the line as to what you will allow into your relationship. If a simple kiss will get your motor running, you need to let your partner know and avoid that kiss until you take your vows and say I do.
Maybe pornography has been a problem in the past. If you say you have overcome it and your mind continues to replay those images eventually you’re going to go back to that playground. Again boundaries are essential. So yank that computer out of the room if it’s a temptation.
I’m beginning to enjoy winter more and more. It’s the only time of year when women aren’t exposing a lot of skin. But once summer hits, lookout! We need to avert our eyes whenever that skimpy bikini comes into view. Don’t be a heat-seeking missile and stay locked on the target. Just bounce your eyes off of that distraction and keep moving.
Again boundaries are important, so if going to the beach causes you to indulge in some eye candy, then you need to avoid the beach.
We can overcome temptation because God has given us the tools to overcome it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Let’s just summarize what we’ve been talking about.
First and foremost lust is a product of the mind. We need to renew our minds daily through prayer, Bible study, and worship.
Secondly we need to know our limitations and set good boundaries. Once you cross that line there’s no going back. It’s off to the races.
Next you need to be honest with yourself and someone you trust. An accountability partner is always a good idea when you feel overwhelmed.
Finally sex is God’s gift to us. It is a gift that is to be enjoyed within the confines of marriage.
For further insight on this topic I highly recommend the book Every Man’s Battle.
It is available in book stores and on Amazon Kindle.
This concludes this episode of Perspective For Today. I’d like to thank you for listening. Just remember if you keep your eyes on Jesus they won’t have time to gaze on the lusts of this world.