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.
Excellent observation.
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.