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 defeat lust, nothing less than the power of the gospel will succeed.

Ephesians 4:17-19 describes how lust works:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ESV

We will have several posts about lust–its power and how to defeat this sin. Please pray for God’s blessing on this series. The nasty web of deceit that surrounds lust has trapped many teenagers–and even adults. Our pews and Sunday School classes are filled with those who have been enslaved by their own lusts. The church’s power is greatly diminished because of this sin. But God is a God of great mercy and power. The wisdom of heaven that James speaks of will prevail. In the next post we will look at how lust is fueled by anticipation.