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The Character of a Godly Man

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BeFreeinChrist is pleased to share a great resource from our friends at Covenant Eyes. If you choose to embark on the 40 Day Challenge, you will receive a daily email full of encouragement and helpful tips for breaking free from the grip of pornography. Many men have found this course to be a great tool for helping in their fight for freedom from the power of sin. If you are interested in the course, click on the link below to begin.

https://learn.covenanteyes.com/porn-free-challenge/

We would like to thank Covenant Eyes for providing this resource and for their dedication to helping those who struggle with pornography.

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Romans 7:15 … For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

When it comes to sin, as Christians we should desire to put it in the rear view mirror, then rip the mirror off the windshield and toss it out the window. Once we have accepted Jesus death as payment for all of our sin (past, present and future), and invited Him into my heart we should be resisting sin in every form.   But, sadly we far too often stumble into transgression.

Sometimes we are surprised that we are still bombarded by so many temptations.  But the Bible warns us that this will happen.

1 Peter 4:12 … Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

As children of God, we are given Jesus strength to help us in the battle against sin. It is available to us the moment we accept Him as Savior and choose to make Him our Lord.  However, because of our former nature, we frequently attempt to attack temptation in our own strength.  Mercifully, God only allows temptation into our lives that He knows we can withstand.

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.

Additionally, in those times that we choose not to rely on Jesus and fall into sin, He does not abandon us.

1 John 1:9 … If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 2:1 … My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

We must not allow ourselves to let guilt destroy us, we need to get on our knees and confess our sins and ask God for forgiveness.

1 John 3:20 … For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

As 1 John says, God already knows we have fallen into sin and doesn’t need us to tell Him, but rather wants us to unburden ourselves by confessing.

The most amazing part of this battle we have against our flesh, is that the war has already been won and we need only allow that truth to ease our anxiety about sin.

1 Peter 2:24 … He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

John 16:33 … I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

~~ a befreeinChrist writing ~~

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Emotional healing  ..

Emotional healing is something that every person needs, to one degree or another, for we have all been wounded emotionally. There are many variations of emotional brokenness and pain—as many as there are types of people. Whether the cause is natural or because of another’s sin, the majority of people fight some type of emotional battle.

Some of the most common symptoms of emotional harm are sleeplessness, detachment, depression, anger, isolation, bitterness, frustration, and fear. Some of the most common causes are abandonment, broken trust, chronic pain or illness, rejection, a lack of community, and a sense of life’s meaninglessness. Unfortunately, modern culture is a veritable breeding ground for these emotional destroyers. We are increasingly drawn away from community and toward individualism, away from trustworthy behavior and toward selfishness, away from morals that give our lives purpose and toward existentialism and post-modernism that detach us from one another and from our humanity, away from healthy choices and healthy practices and toward instant gratification that degrades our physical health. How can a person flounder to the surface of this cultural wave and find emotional healing?

There is no quick and easy path to emotional healing. Some will say that all we need to do is accept Jesus and we will be suddenly healed of our maladies—emotional and otherwise. The fact remains, however, that we are flesh-bound creatures. Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41); the apostle Paul battled with the flesh and spoke of how it stubbornly resisted the desires of his will and mind to follow God (Romans 7:18–25).

Following God …

Following God is the first step to emotional healing. He is the One who restores our souls (Psalm 23:3); Jesus came, in part, to heal the brokenhearted (Luke 4:18). But we must remember that healing is a process. It involves moment-by-moment choices to trust and obey the Lord. We must chose healthy interactions with others (1 Peter 3:8–12), healthy thinking based on the truth of Scripture (Philippians 4:4–9), and healthy activities that benefit our bodies (2 Corinthians 7:1).

Here are some practical things a follower of Christ can do to find emotional healing:

1) Meditate on God’s Word, the Bible. God’s instructions are “life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body” (Proverbs 4:22). The person “whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night” is blessed (Psalm 1:1–2).

2) Confess any known sin to God. Then take God at His word: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

3) Take control of your thoughts—better yet, allow the Holy Spirit to take control of those thoughts. In the Spirit, “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

4) Refuse to fall back into old, sinful habits. “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6). You have been called to holiness and to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

5) Forgive those who have hurt you. This is important. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Be cautious of any root of bitterness in the soul (Hebrews 12:15).

6) See yourself as God sees you: loved (Romans 5:8); gifted (2 Timothy 1:7); set free (John 8:36); and washed, sanctified, and justified (1 Corinthians 6:11).

7) Get involved in a Bible-teaching local church and open yourself to their fellowship and teaching ministry. God gives spiritual gifts to His church “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). Part of a church’s function is to aid the healing process of those who are emotionally or spiritually wounded.

Jesus Christ can help us find emotional healing. His Spirit is a Spirit of kindness, selflessness, truth, and trustworthiness, and He finds joy in producing such qualities in us (Galatians 5:22–23; 1 John 3:19–24). When we are indwelt with His Spirit, He can and will delight to turn us around and make us the kind of people who can trust and be trusted by others, resulting in better relationships all around (John 7:38).

Here are some other passages in the Bible that will help bring emotional healing to the hurting: Psalm 73:23–26; Psalm 34:17–20; 1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 147:3; Psalm 30:11; John 14:27; Matthew 11:28; Romans 5:1; and Romans 8:32.

“How can I receive emotional healing?” GotQuestions.org. https://www.gotquestions.org/emotional-healing.html

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Originally posted on www.deliveredbygrace.com

Who is most righteous – the person who commits adultery on his wife or the man who looks at pornography? I’m not self-deceived into believing that my writing ability or this article itself requires the attention of every man!  However, I do believe what I say in this article should be considered by every man on planet earth – especially those within the church.

We often clothe ourselves in a false world of religion that condemns specific sins while condoning our own sins. That is better known as Phariseeism. We often call it hypocrisy! The fact is, many well-meaning evangelical Christians sit in church each week with a condescending attitude toward the person who commits adultery while they are guilty of unbridled lust. So, the question remains – who is most righteous, the lustful person or the adulterer? Rather than guessing, we should allow Jesus to answer the question for us.

Matthew 5:27-30 (ESV) – You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

The problem that was facing the people of Jesus’ day was that they were hearing preaching and teaching from the rabbis that didn’t fully expound the Law of God. Therefore, their day was not much different than our present day. They were hearing the Word of God twisted to fit the system of the Jewish leaders of the day rather than submitting to the entire Law of God that goes beyond the external letter to the internal heart.

The Jews in Jesus’ day had heard that adultery was wrong.  They had heard right.  However, as Jesus points out, God was not merely interested in the physical act of the flesh.  He was also interested in the inner heart of the individual.  That being said, Jesus pointed out that any man that had looked at a woman with lustful intent had actually committed adultery with her in his heart.  What a serious thing for Jesus to say!  Therefore, Jesus put the lustful mind on the same level as the adulterer.

Like anything good that God creates, Satan desires to destroy it.  God created sex to be a good thing, but Satan has taken it and painted graffiti all over it.  God desires sex to be confined to one man and one woman for life.  Sex is a good thing and should be used to procreate.  The desire for sex was given to humanity, but unfortunately, Satan has twisted it, perverted it, and harnessed it to the marketing industry like a team of powerful oxen.  Today, we blush if we hear sex mentioned in the pulpit.  Satan wants to silence the pulpit so that he can preach in society.  Satan has tried to redefine sex – and has done a good job in his effort.  However, we should realize the importance of defining sex, the boundaries of marriage, and the danger of lust from the inerrant Scriptures of our Lord!

According to the following stats, the pornography industry is growing rapidly!

“The statistics are truly staggering. According to compiled numbers from respected news and research organizations, every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography. Every second 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography. In that same second 372 internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines. Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created in the U.S. It’s big business. The pornography industry has larger revenues than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix combined. 2006 Worldwide Pornography Revenues ballooned to $97.06 billion.”

Therefore, it’s quite obvious that the sinful habits of lust are a serious problem.  The lustful mind often leads to the physical act of adultery which often results in divorce and shattered homes.  Jesus pointed out that merely following the external Law wasn’t enough.  God expected purity of the heart as well. R. Kent Hughes writes:

“Recently Leadership Magazine commissioned a poll of a thousand pastors. The pastors indicated that 12 percent of them had committed adultery while in ministry – one out of eight pastors! – and 23 percent had done something they considered sexually inappropriate.  Christianity Today surveyed a thousand of its subscribers who were not pastors and found the figure to be nearly double, with 23 percent saying they had had extramarital intercourse and 45 percent indicating they had done something they themselves deemed sexually inappropriate. One in four Christian men are unfaithful, and nearly one half have behaved unbecomingly! Shocking statistics! Especially when we remember that Christianity Today readers tend to be college-educated church leaders, elders, deacons, Sunday school superintendents, and teachers. If this is so for the Church’s leadership, how much more for the average member of the congregation? Only God knows!”

Below are several questions that may indicate a spiritual problem in your life:

1. Are you more appalled by homosexuality than you are your own sinful lust?
2. Are you more disgusted with television shows like Desperate Housewives that glorify adultery than your own secret addiction of internet pornography?
3. Are you more concerned with the adultery of political leaders such as President Clinton and John Edwards more than your own lustful mind?
4. Are you more angered by the adultery of preachers that you hear about in the news than you are your own lustful eyes and thoughts?

It is extremely dangerous to look at the sins of others while condoning your own sin.  God places sinful lust on the same level as adultery.  Tim Challies in his book, Sexual Detox, writes, “I want you to know that you cannot be a loving husband, an effective husband, a godly man as long as your mind is filled with the lies of pornography. You need to break free, you need to detox.” The Scripture commands Christians to flee fornication (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).  Joseph did that when Potiphar’s wife seduced him.  The church at Corinth battled the sin of fornication and adultery greatly!  As Christians in a modern world that sprinkles glitter upon the putrid sin of adultery and pornography – we must be committed to fleeing fornication!

It should also be pointed out that Jesus warns about Hell two times in this section of His sermon.  Those who have an unbroken pattern of adultery and lust should fear for their soul.  The person who continues to practice sin such as adultery and lust (which Jesus calls adultery) will die and go to Hell.  It’s not that the person who lives in this manner is in danger of losing their salvation!  The fact is, those who continue in sin rather than grace were never born again (1 John 2:19).  Habitual sin is proof of an unregenerate heart.  That is precisely why Jesus warned of Hell.  Therefore, if you are engulfed in the sinful web of pornography and adultery, you are either a person who has never been born again by God, a true Christian who is living in sin, or a person who has religion but has never been born again.  Examine yourself and see if you are in the faith!  If not, you need to repent and turn to Jesus Christ who can save your lost soul and free you from the grip of lust and adultery! May God grant healing to the heart that is engulfed with unbridled lust!  May God be pleased to spare that man or woman’s marriage who is entangled in the bonds of pornography.  May it be done for the glory of King Jesus!

Pastor Josh Buice

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Pastor John Piper

Here’s the strategy I have used countless times myself in battling the unbelief of lust. With these six

steps, I have in mind men and women. For men, the crisis is more obvious. The need for warfare against the bombardment of visual temptation to fixate on sexual images is urgent. For women, it is often less obvious, but just as great, especially if we broaden the scope of temptation to food or figure or relational fantasies. What I am focusing on here is the realm of thought, imagination, and desire that leads to sexual misconduct. So here is one set of strategies in the war against wrong desires. I put it in the form of an acronym,

ANTHEM

A—Avoid

Avoid, as much as possible and reasonable, the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire. I say “possible and reasonable” because some exposure to temptation is inevitable. And I say “unfitting desire” because not all desires for sex, food, and family are bad. We know when the desires are unfitting, unhelpful, and moving toward becoming enslaving. We know our weaknesses and what triggers them. “Avoiding” is a biblical strategy. “Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness” (2 Tim. 2:22). “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom. 13:14). And, of course, this is done out of faith. That is, it is done because we have a superior satisfaction in Christ over all things and we do not want to tempt our fickle hearts beyond what is necessary.

N—No

Say no to every lustful thought right away. And say it boldly with the authority of Jesus Christ. “In the name of Jesus, No!”

Lust 95

You don’t have much more than a few seconds. Give the lustful thought more unopposed time than that, and it will lodge itself with such force as to be almost immovable. Say it out loud, if you dare. Be tough and warlike. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Strike fast and strike hard. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

T—Turn

Turn the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction. Saying “no” will not suffice. You must move from defense to offense. Fight fire with fire. Attack the inferior promises of sin with the superior promises of Christ. The Bible calls lusts “deceitful desires” (Eph. 4:22). They lie. They promise more than they can deliver. The Bible calls them “passions of your former ignorance” (1 Pet. 1:14). Only fools yield. “All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter” (Prov. 7:22). Deceit is defeated by truth. Ignorance is defeated by knowledge. It must be glorious truth and beautiful knowledge. We must stock our minds with the superior promises and pleasures of Jesus. Then we must turn to them immediately after saying, “No!”

H—Hold

Hold the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out. “Fix your eyes on Jesus” (Heb. 12:2). Here is where many fail. They give in too quickly. They say, “I tried to push it out, and it didn’t work.” I ask, “How long did you try?” A minute? Five? Ten? How long did you make war on this one temptation? How hard did you exert your mind? The mind is a muscle. You can flex it with vehemence. Take the kingdom violently (Matt. 11:12). Be brutal. Hold the promise of Christ before your eyes. Hold it.

96 Killjoys

Hold it! Don’t let it go! Keep holding it! How long? As long as it takes. Fight! For Christ’s sake, fight until you win. If an electric garage door were about to crush your child, you would hold it up with all your might and holler for help and hold it and hold it and hold it and hold it. Until it cut your fingers off.

E—Enjoy

Enjoy a superior satisfaction. Cultivate capacities for pleasure in Christ. One reason lust reigns in so many is that Christ has so little appeal. We default to deceit because we have little delight in Christ. Don’t say, “That kind of delighting just isn’t me.” What steps have you taken to waken affection for Jesus? Have you fought for joy? Don’t be fatalistic. You were created to treasure Christ with all your heart—more than you treasure sex or sugar or sports or shopping. If you have little taste for Jesus, competing pleasures will triumph. Plead with God for the satisfaction you don’t have: “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Ps. 90:14). Then look, and look, and look at the most magnificent Person in the universe until you see him as supremely magnificent and satisfying as he really is.

M—Move

Move into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors. Lust grows fast in the garden of leisure. Find good work to do and do it with all your might. “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord” (Rom. 12:11). “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). Abound in work. Get up and do something. Sweep a room. Hammer a nail. Write a letter. Fix a faucet. And do it for Jesus’s sake. You were made to manage and create. Christ died to make you “zealous for good works”

(Titus 2:14). Displace deceitful lusts with a passion for good deeds.

And in between the moments of hand-to-hand combat with lustful thoughts, devote yourself in every way to seeing and savoring the superior worth of Christ. This will be the victory. “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8).

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including A Peculiar Glory.

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First we need to identify the seriousness of lust.  If we consider lust to be like a drug that pulls us in and destroys us from the inside out, it can help shine a light on just how dangerous it can be to our spiritual health. Romans 8:6 – The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

Pastor John Piper writes: Lust Is Psycho-Erotic Euphoria. It is just like power in your body that makes you so pleased by the erotic, by the visual, that you are moving toward it visually with such a force that it starts to nullify moral conviction. It puts you out of touch with all the arguments you had before to be pure and move you into behavior that you are then later going to disapprove of.

It is like drunkenness. Suppose you go to a bar with a buddy … and he wants to drive and go watch a movie downtown while he is drunk. And you say, “You are not driving. I am not going to let you drive.” And you bend his arm behind his back and just throw him in the back seat and grab his key, and since he is your friend, he doesn’t hit you, and you drive him home and throw him in bed.

Is that right? Should we do that? And I think most people would say, “Yeah. Yeah, you should do that. I mean he was drunk. He was going to kill himself.”

We need to attack lust like we would alcoholism or drug addiction. We need to rid our lives of the source of our temptation, whether drink, drug, or porn. Matthew 5:29 – “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out”.

So, along with attacking temptation ourselves (in Jesus’ power) we should surround ourselves with brothers in Christ who will stand alongside us.  And in turn, we need to be there for our brothers to help them in their struggles.

As Pastor Piper adds: we need people in our lives who will break our arm? Not just, as Paul says, “I pummel my own body.” I am saying you should pummel me.

If you are drunk, and you are going to kill yourself, you had better be glad somebody is in your life to throw you in the back seat of a car. And later on when you wake up, you will glad they did. Then you can pray towards some kind of appropriate stance where you obey freely from your heart.

Helping Each other Stand

Having brothers who will try to shake some sense into you is an incredible blessing. We can help to keep each other stay focused and on the right path. Proverbs 27:17 – Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Accountability, like we find in groups such as Be Free in Christ is a powerful tool in helping us feel like we are not alone, that there are others with similar struggles.

We must not be afraid to admit we cannot overcome on our own. First and foremost we need Jesus.  His grace and His strength are essential in winning the battle over temptation.  Second, having Christians who will allow us to lean on them is vital.

Hebrews 3:13 – Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of DesiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including A Peculiar Glory.  Quotes attributed to John Piper were taken from his writing that can be found in its entirety at the following link: http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-can-we-serve-one-another-in-battling-lust

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Find Freedom from Lust (victory is possible through Jesus Christ)

Sin in our lives is similar to a ring in a bull’s nose. Just as the ring empowers the owner to lead the bull around at his own will, so Satan is able to lead us wherever he pleases when we allow sin to stay in our lives. When we sin, we put ourselves into bondage and servitude. We become Satan’s servant and do his bidding. Jesus said, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” (John 8:34). The feeling of being enslaved to sin is familiar to all of us.

However, Jesus does not leave us in the captivity of Satan. In Luke 4:18, He says that His purpose is to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners. Through the power of His death on the cross, He offers us the opportunity to die to ourselves in openness and brokenness in order to be made free. “ Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; For he who has died is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:6–7, NASB). It is possible to be free from lust!

Christ’s victory over sin and death has set us free from bondage. This release does not mean temptation will cease. James 1:14 says, “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” What then is the freedom we have in Christ? It is the freedom to do what is right! You know you are free when you can make the choice to resist temptation and follow after righteousness. God empowers us to walk in freedom from the bondage of sin. “Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4). (See also Galatians 2:20 and 5:24.)

Complete surrender to God and openness with your family will bring you into liberty. You are set free to live life with a new focus—to love and serve your family. “Ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another”(Galatians 5:13).

A Testimony of Victory

The following testimony from a father demonstrates that freedom from lust is possible.

“I had a wonderful experience tonight. I came home from work around 4:30 p.m., and the door was locked. That meant no one was home. It is pretty rare for me to come home to an empty house. In fact, I’d say today was the first time since I have come clean that it happened. Before I came clean, coming home to an empty house would have meant becoming overwhelmed with temptations to sin. I would have jumped at the chance to be alone in the house. Being alone was my worst temptation, because I could do whatever I wanted without fear of being caught. Sometimes I even subtly tried to arrange windows of time when everyone else would be gone so I could be alone and indulge my lustful appetites.

“How different it was today! Before I unlocked the door, I whispered a simple prayer to God for His protection. Then, when I came in, I called my wife and asked her where everybody was. She said they were at a soccer game and would not be home until around 6:00 p.m. She asked if I would be okay. I could honestly tell her that I would be fine. It felt so wonderful! I could be alone in the house and be a “normal” person! Or should I say, a submitted child of God! I actually worked on the computer too, answering emails and creating invoices. In the past, “working” on the computer was my big fake-out for indulging in lustful activities. Then I took a shower, shaved, and ironed a shirt. I was giddy with the freedom I had in my spirit. I was singing praise songs out loud—good thing no one was here!

“Then I realized how sad it is that I lived such a lascivious lifestyle and had done such horrible things for so long. I had unleashed demonic forces to destroy my family. I felt I didn’t deserve to be happy ever again. Then I remembered that Jesus paid the price for my sin. I realized how much He has forgiven me. His deep, unfailing love for me is the source of my joy—not the circumstances of what is happening around me. It felt so good to be free! I am willing to do whatever it takes for God to take what Satan intended for evil and turn it to good.

“My earnest prayer is that my testimony will help a man who is just now entering that long road of lasciviousness. Perhaps he will hear of my freedom and be encouraged to come clean before taking another step towards destruction.”

Original source: iblp.org/questions

©2022 Institute in Basic Life Principles. Used by permission.

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Originally posted December 8, 2015

Like any pastor I find myself talking with men about pornography and other expressions of sinful lust. Through the years I have found that there is a biblical framework that is often neglected when counseling through this issue. I have laid it out in some detail here, and I regret that it is so long. However, I post it because it has served to help many through the years. In short the post is broken into three parts: 1) What is Lust? 2) Where is it sourced? 3) How do I combat it? The answer to this is not to stop desiring things but to properly desire God. Hence the title, “Fighting Lust with Lust”. We combat sinful lust by fixing our “lust” upon the glory of Christ. In other words, we slay sin by savoring Christ.

Awhile back I preached a sermon in which I emphasized the deception and danger of lust. I regretted not being able to further develop the topic, specifically how to fight lust. The answer to lust may surprise some, but it is the answer and frankly the only answer to lust that ultimately works.

What is lust?

The word translated lust in the New Testament is epithumia. The word simply means ‘desire.’ This desire can be good or bad; whether it is good or bad depends upon how it aligns with God’s revealed will.

For example, we do not understand a potential elder candidate to be in sin who is desiring (epithumia) to the work of an overseerer (1 Tim. 3:1). In this case the desire is a God-honoring desire; therefore, it is not a sinful lust.

On the other hand, we have the sin of lust. In our greed we crave or desire something that is not consistent with what God has revealed or provided. Simply put, sinful lust is to desire something that we believe to be good outside of what God has called good. It is to put our own will and pleasure above God’s.

— CONTINUE READING —

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