Day 24
Love vs. Lust
The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. —1 John 2:17
Adam and Eve were supplied with everything they needed in the garden of Eden. They had fellowship with God and intimacy with one another. But after Eve was deceived by the serpent, she saw the forbidden fruit and set her heart on it. Then Adam joined her in sin, and they both ate against God’s command.
That’s the progression. From eyes to heart to action. And then follow shame and regret.
We, too, have been supplied by God with everything we need for a full, productive, enriching life. Jesus promised that our material needs for food and clothing would always be provided to God’s children (Matthew 6:25–33), and the Bible goes on to say that we should be “content” with these (1 Timothy 6:8). God’s blessings, however, go so far beyond fundamental needs. He richly lavishes His love, Spirit, and Word upon us.
Yet like Adam and Eve, we still want more. So we set our eyes and hearts on seeking worldly pleasure. We try to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. For many it’s seeking sexual fulfillment in another person or in pornographic images designed to feel like a real person. We look, stare, and fantasize. We try to be discreet but barely turn our eyes away. And once our eyes are captured by curiosity, our hearts become entangled. Then we act on our lust.
We can also lust after money, possessions, power, or prideful ambition. We see what others have and we want it. Our hearts are deceived into saying, “I could be happy if I only had this.” Then we make the decision to go after it. “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).
Lust is in opposition to love. Instead of being grateful for what God has given us, we set our hearts on something outside the boundaries of His provision. Lust makes good things that we don’t own into the objects of our future happiness instead of God. And for a believer, it’s a step out of fellowship with God. That’s because every potential target of lust—whether it’s a young coworker, a film actress, a half-million-dollar house, or a sports car—can become an obsession; an idol in your heart.
Lust always restlessly wants more. “What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you?” (James 4:1 HCSB). Regardless of how amazing or appealing your spouse is, lust will make you dissatisfied with them. Lust fuels anger, numbs hearts, and destroys marriages. Rather than fullness, it leads to emptiness.
It’s time to expose lust for what it really is—a misguided thirst for satisfaction that only God can fulfill. Lust is like a warning light on the dashboard of your heart, alerting you to the fact that you’re not allowing God’s love to fill you. When your eyes and heart are on Him, your actions will lead you to lasting joy, not to endless cycles of regret and condemnation.
“His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Peter 1:3–4). God isn’t asking you to give up your lusts for nothing, leaving you with no comfort or adventure to take their place. He is not denying you pleasure; just redirecting you away from sinful and unsatisfying things to the pure and greater pleasures found in Him and in what He provides. He wants you to discover that nothing truly satisfies like Jesus.
What has been enticing and luring your eyes and heart away? What things in this world are you longing for as your next source of fulfillment? Can you admit you don’t need them? Are you tired of being lied to by lust? Are you fed up with believing that forbidden pleasures are able to keep you happy and content—when you know they can’t?
Then begin setting your heart back on God and partake of the feast of His Word. Let His promises of peace and freedom work their way into your heart. Confess any lust in your heart as sin, and allow the guilt and shame that weighs on you to be replaced by the joy of His forgiveness. Daily receive the unconditional love He has already proven to you through the cross. Focus on being grateful for everything God has already given you rather than choosing discontentment.
You’ll find yourself so full on what He provides, you won’t be hungry anymore for the junk food of lust.
And while you’re at it, set your eyes and heart on your spouse again. “Rejoice in the wife of your youth. . . . Be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths” (Proverbs 5:18–21).
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Lust is the best this world has to offer, but love offers you the best life in the world.
TODAY'S DARE
End it now. Identify any obsession or object of lust in your life and let go of it. Expose any lie you’ve swallowed in pursuing forbidden pleasure and reject it. Lust cannot be allowed to live in a back closet. It must be killed and destroyed today. Focus on thanking God that He and what He provides can satisfy you and meet all your needs.
____ Check here when you’ve completed today’s dare.
What did you identify as an area of lust? What has this pursuit cost you over time? How has it led you away from the person you want to be? Write about your new commitment to seek Him—and to seek your spouse—rather than seeking after foolish desires.
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