understand lust

For more than sixteen hundred years, lust has been identified as one of the seven classic deadly sins. This list also includes greed, gluttony, pride, sloth, anger, and envy. Like these other vices, it doesn’t draw much attention to us. In fact, lust is generally misunderstood and ignored even though its effects devastate the lives of many around us.

What is lust? Most would simply describe lust as overwhelming sexual desire. However, this is not the meaning it has for Christians. For us, the intensity is less worrying than the direction in which our desire points. When our focus is directed towards what is forbidden, then it is lust. Engaging in lust must be recognized as more than mere desire, as it provides an illicit form of gratification in its own right. By her, our thirst is temporarily quenched.

Of course, everyday common lust is frequently seen as nothing more than a natural human appetite and a passive, harmless source of pleasure. This is not the biblical view, where lust is strictly condemned. If we were programmed for lust, as some believe, we would be powerless to eliminate it. Nor would we know what to do with the teachings of Jesus. Consider his words:

You have heard that it was said to the ancients: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in her heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it away from you; because it is more profitable for you that one of your members be lost, than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; because it is more profitable for you that one of your members be lost, than that your whole body be thrown into hell. (Matthew 5:27-30)

Although this passage is well known, it is often misunderstood in one way or another. In fact, many consider it so harsh and unreasonable that they simply brush it aside. Thus they ignore, to their own peril, specific teachings on a problem that afflicts our society and the Church. Voyeurism is an epidemic. With the increase in the use of the Internet and the privacy it offers, the practices of viewing pornography and masturbation are becoming more and more frequent. Undoubtedly, Jesus addresses these practices directly when he suggests amputating our right eye or right hand if they cause us to sin.

Unfortunately, without properly understanding this passage, we could come to one of two wrong conclusions. First, we can assume that Jesus considers self-mutilation to be a viable solution to lust. Being blind and without hands would certainly interfere with our ability to sin in this way. However, instinctively, we know that this is not his intention. It’s impractical and outrageous in the face. Also, blind and handsless men continue to lust.

On the other hand, it is equally wrong to conclude that he is exaggerating or speaking allegorically. It may seem strange to be told to maintain a complete abstinence from lustful thoughts, especially in such graphic and shocking language. However, instead of softening what Jesus says, we had better think hard about how to obey. Clearly, He leaves no room for maneuver. Lust must be eliminated from our lives or the consequences of continuing in it are too terrible to bear.

The Greek words for lust are epitumean and epithemia (as a noun), which comes from the root of words meaning “to feel about”. It is also frequently translated as “covet”. Jesus in Matthew deliberately uses language from the Greek translation of the tenth commandment of the Old Testament. There, we are forbidden to “feel our neighbor’s wife” as one of the ways we should not covet. Any woman who has been “felt” in an unwanted way would appreciate the basic meaning. Jesus elevated this particular type of greed to a level like no other. He clearly taught that having feelings for a woman who is not your wife is a sexual sin equivalent to physically committing adultery.

Perhaps this is what bothers us. Lust is a form of sexual pleasure that is readily available, intensely private, and generally unresisted. It’s that inner buzz that draws you to a particular ad or TV show. Such casual objects of lust, or “eye candy,” are of a kind that we simply don’t want to regard as improper.

Of course, giving in too much is a recognized problem. Many make meditation on lust their main thought. Using modern technology, objects of desire can be brought before the eyes with a variety and intensity never before imagined. Sexual sin has led to unhappy marriages, broken families, and devastated lives. As they get consumed by what they consume, some want to put the genie back in the bottle, but don’t know how. Internet filters, accountability, twelve-step programs, intense prayer, and Bible study are all recommended, but they usually fail.

Many counselors, including some who come from a Christian perspective, view their work as helping others achieve “sexual sobriety.” This secular term, which is used by Sexaholics Anonymous, describes the state in which one does not masturbate, view pornography, or engage in illicit sexual intercourse. Unfortunately, the root of the problem of lust is not mentioned. Sexual sobriety can easily be described as cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside remains full of self-indulgence.

Before we can defeat lust, we need a clear definition. Consider this: Lust is getting sexual gratification or a buzz from anyone or anything other than your spouse. This may seem narrow and restrictive, but it seems closer to what the Bible is talking about.

The key to a proper understanding of Matthew’s teaching is to recognize it as challenging. If our eye or hand is causing us to lust, by all means get rid of it. With this challenge, Jesus forces us to admit that it is not a problem of eyes or hands. Rather, it is a matter of heart and mind.

Jesus calls the hand and the eye “members.” Paul, in Romans 6-8, uses the same expression. It’s no coincidence that he also writes quite a bit about “lust” there. Probably the underlying sin Paul is referring to in this passage where he agonizes over doing what he doesn’t want to do is the common, stubborn sin of lust. How would I know I wouldn’t covet if the law didn’t say “thou shalt not covet”? (Romans 7:7)

Paul’s simple and practical solution to our dilemma is to state unequivocally that Christ has made us alive and free. Within that position, we must live in freedom by committing our members to justice. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its lusts. And do not present your members to sin as instruments of iniquity, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. (Romans 6:13)

All who are in Christ can do this. Apart from Him, even a successful elimination of lust would simply make room in our hearts for other vices. Because from within, from the hearts of men, come evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, the evil eye, blasphemies, pride and the foolishness All these bad things come from within and contaminate man. (Mark 7:23) Once we had few options, since our members were slaves of filth But now, having been made free in Christ, we can present our members as slaves of justice for holiness. (Romans 6:19)

Paul also acknowledges that some choose not to do this and transparently confesses his own heartbreaking struggle with sin in Romans 7. Willingly using our members for lust enslaves us again. This is a dangerous and fatal course. Don’t you know that to whom you present yourself as slaves to obey, you are slaves of the one whom you obey? (v.16) For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live. (Romans 8:3) The inevitable and tragic consequences of willful sin are identified by Paul as another law in my limbs. In fact, it is the law of sin. (Chapter 7:23)

No longer using our limbs, eyes, and hands to allow sin is a deceptively simple yet effective solution to overcoming the debilitating sin of lust. This is how you do it. When faced with something that could create a stir, we aggressively prevent it from happening. We deny sin any foothold, whether by turning our heads, redirecting our thoughts, or other deliberate action. From this, we discover that lust is neither spontaneous nor automatic. Instead, it is a choice, exactly like the choice we make when we recoil from lust regarding a family member.

Changing our reasons for looking will necessarily change our viewing habits and make us more sensitive to the wiles of the evil one. All of this is to the good when we commit ourselves to righteousness and employ our members to this end. I admit that acting this way can be awkward at first. However, it becomes automatic with practice. As we eliminate lust, other sexual sins also fade away, allowing us to act naturally and increase in righteousness. Best of all, the Spirit of Christ is at work in us to accomplish this precise purpose.