Day Twenty-Four: "Love vs. Lust"

The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 

– 1 John 2:17

Adam and Eve were supplied with everything they needed in the Garden of Eden. They had fellowship with God and intimacy with one another. But after Eve was deceived by the serpent, she saw the forbidden fruit and set her heart on it. Before long, Adam joined in her wishes, and against God’s command both of them ate.

That’s the progression. From eyes to heart to action. And then follows shame and regret.

We, too, have been supplied with everything we need for a full, productive, enriching life. God’s blessings, however, go so far beyond these fundamental needs, we could rightly say that we want for nothing. Yet like Adam and Eve, we still want more. So we set our eyes and hearts on seeking worldly pleasure. We try to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. For many it’s seeking sexual fulfillment in another person or in pornographic images designed to feel like a real person. We look, stare, and fantasize. We try to be discreet but barely turn our eyes away. And once our eyes are capture by curiosity, our hearts become entangled. Then we act on our lust.

We can also lust after possessions or power or prideful ambition. We see what others have and we want it. Our hearts are deceived into saying, “I could be happy if I only had this.” Then we make the decision to go after it.

“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).

Lust is in opposition to love. It means to set your heart and passions on something forbidden. And for a believer it’s the first step out of fellowship with the Lord and with others. That’s because every object of your lust – whether it’s a young coworker or a film actress, or coveting after a half-million dollar house or a sports car – represents the beginnings of a lie. This person or thing that seems to promise sheer satisfaction is more like a bottomless pit of unmet longings.

Lust always breeds more lust. “What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you? (James 4:1 HCSB). Lust will make you dissatisfied with your husband or wife. It breeds anger, numbs hearts, and destroys marriages. Rather than fullness, it leads to emptiness.

It’s time to expose lust for what it really is – a misguided thirst for satisfaction that only God can fulfill. Lust is like a warning light on the dashboard of your heart, alerting you to the fact that you are not allowing God’s love to fill you. When your eyes and heart are on Him, your actions will lead you to lasting joy, not to endless cycles of regret and condemnation.

Begin setting your eyes on the Word of God. Let His promises of peace and freedom work 

their way into your heart. Daily receive the unconditional love He has already proven to your through the cross. Focus on being grateful for everything God has already given you rather than choosing discontentment. And while you’re at it, set your eyes and heart on your spouse again. “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth … Be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths” (Proverbs 5:18-21).

Lust is the best this world has to offer, but love offers you the best life in the world. 

The Dare: "End it now. Identify every object of lust in your life and remove it. Single out every lie you’ve swallowed in pursuing forbidden pleasure and reject it. Lust cannot be allowed to live in a back bedroom. It must be killed and destroyed – today – and replaced with the sure promises of God and a heart filled with His perfect love."

The Outcome: As if it wasn't easy enough to find some porn on your computer, now you can stream it live through your television. And the best part? No one has to know because you don't even leave your house. Now, you can even catch some mild porn on you regularly scheduled television shows. Social networking sure makes it easy to search out men and women you're interested in...all under the radar of your spouse. If that wasn't enough outlet for you to "fulfill your needs," you can thank the trends these days. The younger the girl, the shorter their shorts, the more you get to see. 

Back in the day, I mean waaaaaaay back, it was almost impossible to engage your eyes on something like that without going to a brothel or something of the like. A place where people might know you. With all the technology we have now, you can be knee-deep in it and we'd never know. It could be your dirty little secret...or would it? I blogged a few days ago about how I used to put God in the corner of my heart, hoping it would block his view of the harmful things I did. But it's just not possible. 

With every click of your mouse, with every devious stare at the television screen, with every attempt on Facebook to fulfill your pleasure, with every book you read designed to pull you into a fantasy love, you give a little bit of your soul to the image on the other side...whether imagined or real. If you do it enough, you wind up having very little if any at all left for your spouse to receive.

Even though it seems we have so much against us these days to rise above this addiction, we are actually in a better place than those way back when. With so much available, we have to purpose in our hearts to turn away. They didn't have pornography at their fingertips, we do. They didn't have the opportunity to make the decision on a daily basis to turn away, but we do. We get the chance to CHOOSE to look away even though it's prevalent, and most times completely free. To those who didn't have availability like us,  never had to face the struggle like we do.  It's a matter of the heart and we get to make our hearts decision. We get to lead our heart to true freedom.

Day 24: SUCCESS

16 days and counting...