The Lure And Cure Of Lust

way to the judgment, or will we submit, and admit our guilt? Jesus wants us to escape the

hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and be honest about our inner sinful nature.

A child misunderstood the seventh commandment, and recited it, "Thou shalt not

admit adultery." This was the problem with the Pharisees. They would not admit to

their guilt. This was David's problem. He refused to admit his guilt. This is the problem

with almost everyone. We refuse to admit that our lust makes us guilty. When Jimmy

Carter was president he confessed publicly that he had lust. This was no surprise, but the

fact that he admitted it was the surprise. We do not like to admit that all of us are guilty.

But that is precisely what Jesus is forcing us to do. He knew that everybody gets angry at

sometime. He knew that everybody struggles with lust at times. We know He knew this

by the way He handled the situation with the woman brought to Him who had been taken

in the very act of adultery.

He said to all of those religious leaders, who in self-righteousness were ready to stone

her, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." Then instead of leaping out of the

way to avoid the flying rocks, He knelt to write on the ground before the accused. He

knew it was not a risky gamble, for He knew they were men, and men do not live that long

and escape lust. Everyone of them walked away, and Jesus knew they would. For He

knew they were guilty, and He knew they knew they were guilty. Christopher Sykes was

right when he said, "Of the seven deadly sins, lust is the only one about which all

mankind (with very few exceptions), knows something from experience."

Most everyone has had the experience of going to a restaurant with others, and when

they get their order, it looks better than you ordered, and you often wish you had what

they have. It is the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence feeling. It is just a

part of our human nature to desire what we do not have. Lust is one of these desires. It

starts at puberty, and that is when most boys begin their battle with lust. The girl next

door, the attractive teacher, the objects of lust are everywhere. And now in our culture

there is the added temptation of movies, magazines, and the computer. It is at this stage

of the battle that boys see the female, not as a person, but as a thing. If they do not

control their sex drive, and girls do not help them control it by resisting their advances,

they may never learn what love is, but spend the rest of their lives under the dominion of

lust.

Marlyn Monroe said, "I hate being a thing." She was a sex symbol, and a symbol is a

thing. She never really felt loved as a person, but only used like a thing. If only youth

could see that lust controlled can lead to love. But lust unleashed and freely expressed

leads to becoming locked into an immature relationship of the sexes. Some men never

know love for the person of a woman because they are locked in on lust for women.

Women can never be equal to them, for women are things, and only objects of