Tuesday, July 6

In Matthew 5:28, Jesus teaches that to look at a woman lustfully is the same thing as to commit adultery with her in your heart. To many people, this teaching sounds like an almost impossible standard. If looking is the same as doing in God’s eyes, then what hope is there for any of us!? The problem stems from a basic misunderstanding of what lust is.

First of all, lust is not looking. Jesus does not say that it is wrong to look at or notice a woman. He says that it is wrong to look at a woman “lustfully”. God created us as visual beings and it is not wrong to notice the physical beauty of His creation, even if it is the physical beauty of another person.

Second, lust is not the same thing as sexual desire. Too many Christians believe that to think about or desire sex at all is sinful, and they live with a tremendous amount of secret guilt and shame for the natural feelings and desires that come with being human. God created us as sexual beings. In fact, God invented sex! For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame (Genesis 2:24-25). It is natural and good that we should have these desires.

So…what is lust?

The word that Jesus uses for lust here is a Greek word ‘epithemea’ which means a desire out of control, it is a word most often used for idolatry.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5

In other words, Jesus is saying that when looking and noticing lead to a desire that becomes obsessive and idolatrous, then you are lusting. To lust is to desire pleasure without a person and without a promise. When you lust, you really don’t want the person as an individual with dignity and value in the sight of God. You want their body and the physical pleasure of an experience. Neither do you want the boundaries of a committed relationship (i.e. the covenant of marriage). You simply want something from them, but you don’t really want them. Lust depersonalizes sex and dehumanizes people. It is incredibly destructive to both parties.

Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
- Ephesians 4:19

For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. – 1 John 2:16

The truth is that we can and do lust after more than just people and sex.

Questions for reflection:

Where are my desires out of control?

Have I been guilty of wanting pleasure without a person or a promise?

Prayer:

Thank you Lord for the gifts of sex and physical beauty. Forgive us for desiring your gifts more than You, and teach us to pursue purity in every area of our lives – Amen.

Jeff Frazier