Lust: What Love Is Not Series

Jesus is saying that it’s better to create temporary hardship than to endure permanent torture in hell. That’s what my friend does when he refuses to watch movies where women wear tight dresses.

But what happens if you’ve already sinned in this way? What do you do if you’ve already had lustful thoughts or even lustful actions? It’s simple, really -- pray and ask for forgiveness. It’s that simple. Don’t try to hide it, don’t try to pretend like it never happened. Be honest with yourself and everyone else involved and own up to it. Be the man or woman of God that David refused to be.

Will it be hard? Of course! Will you enjoy it? No! But will it be worth it? Definitely. Look at what happened to David because he tried to hide his sin. 2 Samuel 12:11-14:

11“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ”

13Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

The baby that was born as a result of David’s sin with Bathsheba died. David had to endure the death of his son, all the while knowing that it was literally his fault. He had to live with that knowledge for the rest of his life.

Would the punishment have been as severe if David had simply owned up to his sin from the beginning? We can’t know for sure, but I think it would have been less. David didn’t rely on the Love of God to release him from his lust.

Lust starts out small, but ends big. It starts as a very small and private sin, but ends as a very large and public situation. The only way to truly eliminate lust from your thoughts and lives is to replace it with the love of God.

Next week we will learn more about love -- specifically, the four types of love -- and what they mean to each of us.