Ruling Desires

112 posts

Fueled by Anticipation

Lust is a sin that dominates and never satisfies. This sequence is not random. Dissatisfaction is an intended consequence of lust that was designed by the enemy of your souls. In the last post I asked you to look at 2 Samuel 13 and the story of Amnon. That passage vividly depicts this truth. Amnon was consumed by his sinful desire for Tamar. Yet, after he had acted upon his desire and taken her, instead of being satisfied, he was filled with hatred. The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates verse 2 Samuel 13:15 this way: After this, Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that the hatred he hated her with was greater than the love he had loved her with. […]

Never Satisfied

The most striking characteristic of the sin of lust is simply that lust never satisfies. Lust promises excitement, relief, and distraction,  but it never delivers. As Ephesians 4:19 says, it only fuels a thirst for passions that will never be quenched. Here is the key to understanding lust: it is fueled by anticipation. When the desires that are anticipated and driven by lust are finally enacted, there is never relief–only bitterness, disgust and emptiness. The result is always a period of profound regret, remorse, and emptiness. The act, whether is it viewing pornography, indulging in masturbation, or other inappropriate sexual behavior, never satisfies. It leaves only bitterness, which is soon followed by the desire to commit this act again. The […]

Understanding the Power of Lust

Lust is not a particularly pleasant topic to address, but it is necessary to do so. I have touched on this issue from varying perspectives but I have not addressed it head on until now. Lust is a weapon of the enemy to enslave hundreds of thousands of young people to their own flesh. Lust, the passion of the flesh (Eph. 2:3), has the capacity to dominate lives and destroy relationships. It is not easily defeated. While our modern culture is no stranger to lust, lust itself is no stranger to people of all ages. Lust promises, but it never satisfies. Lust is fueled by anticipation of sweet satisfaction, but it yields bitter fruit. Lust captivates; it never frees. To […]

Hope and Switch

The world we live in is not a friendly place. Even for Christians, perhaps especially for Christians, the world offers promises that it can never keep. This is an essential component of reality for your children to grasp. The truth is that the world’s promises are made to broken. Ephesians 2 speaks of a world that follows its leader, Satan. The master deceiver has constructed a world that offers hope and delivers bitterness. This reality is vividly described in the first three verses of chapter two. To adapt a common phrase, the pattern of the world is to “hope and switch.” That is, to offer hope and then, once the offer has been embraced, replace hope with bitterness. Your children […]

Gaming: The Pursuit

In the last post on gaming we looked at the difference between the pursuit of productivity and the pursuit of fantasy. The operative word here is pursuit. Proverbs 12:11 contrasts someone who productively works his land with someone who chases or pursues empty fantasies. Both individuals are in active pursuit of a goal. Sometimes the one chasing fantasies becomes obsessed with his pursuit, even though it is meaningless. This is true of hard-core gamers. Everything else in life becomes secondary—the game is the thing. While your children may not be at the level of the seriously hard-core, it is not difficult to see when the games pull them toward obsession. You may think to yourself, what is the big deal, […]

Silence & Youthful Lusts

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. II Timothy 2:22 In addition to the points raised in recent posts, there may be another reason why teenagers suddenly become silent and distant. As has been observed by most of the known world, the teenage years are a time of change. One change is the emergence of youthful lusts that Paul warns about in 2 Timothy. The word for lust used in the passage above is also translated as “passions or desires.” With the onset of puberty a new physical dimension is added to the already potent mixture of selfishness and desire for immediate gratification. A […]

How Sin Works – Application to Teenagers

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 Sin’s deceitfulness targets teenagers particularly. As Timothy warns, youthful passions must be avoided and righteousness pursued with great energy. We have already addressed the youthful scheming of Jonadab and Amnon. Amnon’s desires made him an easy target. He craved his sister, Tamar, and was willing to take whatever shortcuts and schemes seemed viable in order to satisfy his sensual passions. His headlong pursuit of immediate gratification had a fatal outcome. That is where living for the moment can lead. In the 21st century, the entertainment media and advertising industry have assumed the role of […]

Worry, Panic & Schemes – How Sin Works – part 2

When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home?" 2 Samuel 11:10 The second common form of deceit is that it offers a shortcut to what we want. The real truth behind this shortcut is that we assume we know better than God what is good for us. It is ironic that these shortcuts usually involve much more planning and scheming than simply doing what God requires. There is definitely an overlap between this form of deceit and the form we discussed in the last post—living for the moment. Living for the moment drives you and your children to look for shortcuts to avoid the […]

Living for the Moment – Helping your children see how sin works

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Genesis 37:3&4 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. Hebrews 11:24&25 There was a popular song in the ‘80s which offered this line as part of its refrain:    […]

Sin – Empty Promise, Bitter Fruit

      When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also  desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3:6     So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as […]