Posted on 07/19/2014 6:45:12 AM PDT by EscondidoSurfer
Are you among those who feel uncomfortable with someone saying, “I have overcome lust”? Does it come off sounding presumptuous, brassy and overconfident?
Might it even be contrary to Scripture and looking for trouble? Consider:
1.“Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) 2.“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) 3.“I have no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:3)
I believe the answer depends on what is meant by the word “overcoming.”....
(Excerpt) Read more at overcoming-lust.com ...
Since lust is related to our sexuality which is an intrinsic part of our human nature, I agree with the first post.
However, like any moral weakness, it can be tamed by a serious decision to conquer it through intensive prayer. We do need to depend on a higher power to overcome any weakness. But it is not just the concept of ending a bad personality trait, we should replace it with a higher trait, that of loving the Lord. For me, I use my love for Jesus and the desire to never disappoint him and to pleas my Creator.
Of course, I often fail, but over time, am becoming stronger. For me, I eat too much, and need to discipline myself. Although I do not consider myself a glutton, I am overweight and feel it is a sin for me to not able to get better control of my appetite. It is an eternal problem. It is inborn in all of us to have weaknesses.
Putting the deeds of the flesh to death is a lifetime task. The trick is to flee temptation before it turns into lust. We resist the devil and flee temptation.
Most folks try the opposite: fleeing the devil and resisting temptation. But resisting temptation only keeps us near temptation with the sin nature inherited from Adam working against us.
Thus we need to avoid places of temptation. We must confess out temptations that have gotten hold before they turn into lust. And if lust has taken hold, then to confess it to the proper confessor, putting it to death before it puts us to death.
Good thread.
Overcoming lust is a constant effort of a Christian interacting with God, not a problem solved to be checked off a list.
This little article is spot on.
Excellent observation.
***Since lust is related to our sexuality which is an intrinsic part of our human nature,***
It is more than that. It is desiring what you cannot have.
“I would not have known LUST except the LAW said...THOU SHALT NOT COVET!”-ST PAUL
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Coveting is the essence of liberalism and socialism.
http://www.popularsocialscience.com/2013/04/17/james-c-davies-j-curve-theory-of-revolutions/
Similarly, God gives us a sex drive to bond couples and families, and perpetuate humanity. Because it is a powerful drive, it is easily perverted and redirected away from its intended purpose.
IMHO, these natural tendencies are better viewed as gifts to be cherished, respected and applied in the context God intended, rather than resisted or, "overcome." Letting them run rampant and control us, is of course, a grave sin, but locking them away and repressing them altogether is neither what God intended.
Luckily, God has given us an, "operator's manual," that pretty much guides us through the proper uses and application of these impulses, instincts and drives He provided us as standard equipment. They are things to be channeled and tamed, not ignored or repressed altogether.
The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ paid for sins like this, for folks like us, on His body on the cross. 'That whosoever believes upon Him should not perish' but receive cleansing and forgiveness and have 'Everlasting Life'.
For life is not coveting, nor stealing (as the world says to us), but life is found in Christ and a joy that does not go away.
So to the addict who is hooked on crack, a little bit is not bad? Or to the sex addict who is hiding his affair, a secret rendezvous (with someone not his wife) is not bad?
Is Christ wrong that a 'little leaven spoils the whole lump'?
No, there are no halfway measures to deal with temptations and lusts. Halfway measures are total failures with both of these and are just as deadly.
Thank you for that observation Joe, it helps.
Nothing I wrote supports that. For an addict, any indulgence of his/her addiction is an overindulgence, because by the very nature of addiction they are placing the object of their desire at the center of their life instead of God.
What you fail to understand, apparently, is that not all our desires are lusts until we distort them into being such (typically when we fail to follow Scriptural instructions). I would not accuse you of gluttony if you simply ate breakfast today. Did you indulge a lust, or did you merely satisfy a God given hunger? Now if you had 12 blueberry pancakes, a pound of bacon and washed it down with a gallon of cider, you probably drifted into gluttony territory.
A crack addict or alcoholic who has only, "a little bit," is placing a false god before God, and is therefore, not complying with the intent of God's instructions. A sex addict who strays outside his/her marital vows (or arguably abuses the gift within the context of their marriage) is similarly abusing the God given gift of sexual desire.
> It is a sin that you cannot stop battling.
Very true. The Internet and sexual innuendos embedded in commerials and just about every other TV show doesn’t help. In fact I bet if we were to bring someone from another century to present day to see what we experience daily in this regard they would be shocked. We are so conditioned to it we don’t even see it anymore. I have to agree especially for males, including myself, it is one of the hardest battles we face on a daily basis because of the natural desires we have programmed into us. I almost wish I’d been born in a different century sometimes.
My hero is Augustine. His account of his conversion in the Garden of Milan is one of the most beautiful accounts ever. It was not a conversion to believing — that had already happened. It was a conversion to chastity after a life of indulgence of lustful desires. Previously he knew the Truth but could not reconcile his actions to the Truth.
It is unlikely the Russian Revolution would have occurred if there had not been WWI and the Russo-Japanese Wars.
Hal Lindsey related this story of pushing his wheelchair-bound 90+-year-old father through the mall. A gorgeous young lady sashayed past them, and Hal suddenly felt self-conscious in front of his dad. So he said, “It sure must be nice to finally reach the age when temptations like that cease to be so attractive.” To which his father replied, “Yep, must be!”
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