by Jon Burnett
24 February 2005
Lust is a temptation that continually plagues humanity. Since Creation, Satan has used lust to lead us into sin, �So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was a desirable thing, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit� (Gen 3:6). Before she saw how pleasing the fruit looked to the eyes, Eve noticed its ability to please the hunger of her flesh. Such sin didn�t end with Eve though, �She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate,� thus, �by one man�s disobedience many were made sinners� (Rom 5:19).
The temptation of the lust of the flesh continued even through God�s covenant with Israel. In Numbers 11:31-35, God�s children were overtaken by their lusts and led to gather more than God had authorized, �But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people� (v 33). Why? Because the people �yielded to craving� (v 34).
Lust is one of the single hardest temptations to fight. This is mainly due to one major misconception: the key to fighting lust is fighting desire with self-control. This is wrong on two subtle points: 1) it automatically assumes desire is wrong, and 2) it makes you rely on your own strength.
Desire is not inherently evil, or else God would have never given it to man. Often when we read James 1:14,15 we focus on Satan�s active role in temptation without realizing that he will use good things to tempt us to do evil. We must remember that �Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light� (2 Cor 11:14) and no longer be ignorant of his devices (2 Cor 2:11). The Israelites were not killed for being hungry, but rather for not accepting God�s divine plan to meet that hunger.
Knowing whom we�re fighting (Satan and not ourselves) is only half the battle. The other is strengthening ourselves in knowing whom we�re fighting with and for. In both cases our eyes must be firmly set on Jesus who �was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin � that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:15,16). To find success, we look to the successful, and against Satan who else is there? By faith in Him we share in His victory (1 Jn 5:4,5) and can even rejoice in our trials knowing that by them He will prepare us for even greater end (Jam 1:2,3).
God designed man to desire and seek certain things (Acts 17:26,27) and coupled that with the way to fulfill those desires (Jn 14:6, Heb 5:8,9). While we may understand this in terms of salvation, we have to dig deeper to see its full impact. God did not design humanity to be void of attraction, in fact He created us each with distinctions that set us apart and bring us together (Gen 1:27,2:24).
Fighting lust isn�t denying our humanity it is restoring it to the glory God Himself created it for! Self-control is surely important and fighting desire is nothing short of a must, but purity is only a means, not the end of restoring to our lives godly pleasure. And the ultimate goal? To glorify God in our bodies and spirit because Someone Else has paid for it with a much greater price (1 Cor 6:17-20).