Lust: It's Not Just for Sex

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16).

Society, I believe, defines lust in a much too limited way.

Lust is usually associated with secret sexual liaisons in out-of-the way motels. It is what people do when they look at magazines or websites displaying nudity, or fantasize about becoming romantically involved with someone. I think we get the picture.

And while my trusty Dictionary.com does define lust as

“intense sexual desire or appetite,” “lecherousness,” “uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire”

it also defines it as

“a passionate or overmastering desire or craving (usually followed by for),” as in “a lust for power.”

So, we can be in lust when we crave things like affirmation, attention and vindication.

We might harbor lust in our fervor to always be understood, liked and included.

We may possess a compulsion to maintain an exceptionally clean and organized house or office, or lust after food, shopping or exercise.

So when the Bible talks about lust, it is important to understand that its use of that word does not always refer to sex.

In fact, let’s look at two passages where clearly the word “lust” is pretty open-ended, referring to the wider dictionary definition that includes anything that consumes our thoughts and has mastery over us.

"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel" (James 4:1-2a).

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:13-21).

“Desire of the flesh” is just another way of saying “lust.” And in fact, sexual lust is included in the Galatians list of the deeds of the flesh. But note, too, that envy, factions, dissensions and partying are also included.

If we’re honest, anyone who has ever felt hijacked by any one of the "deeds of the flesh," such as jealousy, for example, will probably readily admit that we hate the feeling. Sometimes we can’t even explain why we feel the way we do. 

Sometimes it has to do with feeling less-than ourselves, and sometimes it has to do with a sense of justice. Either way, jealousy (again, merely one of the fleshly deeds) is a horrible feeling, but one that we often find impossible to shake.

The right thing to do, the Christ-like thing to do, is to go to God with our jealousy (or anger, resentment, insecurity, need to be popular—whatever it is), and sincerely desire that He put a right spirit within us; that he wash us clean from the emotion that is beginning to have mastery over us.

The dysfunctional thing to do is to feed the jealousy sour grapes; to nurse our wounds by revisiting and perhaps, over time, embellishing them. That is when an emotion we didn’t ask for turns into lust: when, instead of saying “nothing doing” to the negative emotion, we partner with it in commiseration.

Scripture has a very good reason for commanding

“See to it that no one comes up short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal” (Hebrews 12:15-16).

Every lust will lead us down the road of bitterness, because whatever we are obsessing over will never be satiated to our satisfaction. And so we will continue to make desperate and repeated attempts to fill our leaky bucket, only to leave destruction and dysfunction in our wake.

If we already have the Spirit in us, we must stop fighting the Spirit and recognize that any temptation we give an inch to has the potential to mutate into a lust that will gradually capture, and embitter.

And lest we be tempted to allow ourselves the alibi of “I was attacked by Satan,”

the Bible has an answer to that too:

“No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:13-14).

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:6-8).

Finally, we hold to this constant in our Christian walk:

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

 copyright Barb Harwood