March16

2 Samuel 13

Lust. It is one of those words we don’t talk about – usually. One that we kind of sweep under the rug and pretend it doesn’t apply to us. But that is what the devil wants us to do with it. He doesn’t want us to really examine it and truthfully discover if we have lust in our lives.

So, lust – what is it? Lust is an overwhelming desire or craving for something.

Does it have to be sexual? No. Although the NIV translation seems to have focused on using the word “lust” for primarily overwhelming sexual desires, the King James Version uses the word lust in scriptures like Psalm 78:18, Psalm 78:30, Psalm 81:12, and Romans 7:7. These scriptures refer to lust as an overwhelming desire or craving for things like meat or material items that can be coveted. One can even lust for nonmaterial things like power or popularity.

Lust is not love. Lust separates you from God. It exchanges God’s desires in your heart for evil or selfish desires, and, before you know it, you become more focused on the object you are lusting after and lose sight of God.

Have you ever wanted something, but couldn’t have it? Did the fact that you couldn’t have it make you want it even more? Have you ever wanted something over a long period of time only to feel let down after you got it? Sometimes the wanting and the desire give you more of a “rush” than the actual object.

It is horrible when this happens with objects, but when it happens with people – it is devastating.

Amnon thought his intense feelings for Tamar were love. Instead, his feelings were all about him and what he wanted. He never took Tamar’s feelings or desires into consideration – and that is not love. He quickly discovered this, because after he got what he wanted, he hated Tamar. So he was confused. So he didn’t understand his feelings – you know feelings can change. BUT the problem here is that his feelings were lust, not love, and he acted based upon lust.

So are you confused as to whether your feelings might be lust or love? I Corinthians 13 spells it out pretty clearly: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Amnon’s feelings do not fit this description. How about your feelings?

Lust (obsessive desires and cravings) is serious – whether it is a lust for sexual things or things of this world. Be careful. Check your feelings.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does -comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” I John 2:15-17

“Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
James 1:13-15

"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards." Matthew 7:24-27 (The Message)