(OPINION) Charisma – Living a life for Christ is in direct opposition to lust. However, lust will hide in the heart of men throughout the church and uses tricks, lies, and deception to stay hidden and out of sight. (Yes, some women struggle with lust as well, but this article is addressed to men.) If we can recognize lust for the evil enemy it is, we can defeat it easily with Christ on our side.

Lie: Lust is not a problem if nothing bad happens. This is a little lie that lust will use to remain hidden in your heart. This is another tricky lie of lust. It allows lust to stay and grow in your heart more than other lies. A man who has had a long-term relationship with lust often acclimates to other inappropriate behaviors.

Lust will tell you that how you act out is your problem. Lust wants to focus on the fruits of lust rather than on lust itself. The truth is that to kill lust, you have to kill it at its roots. You need to get serious about stocking your arsenal, sharpening your weapons, and giving you toxins to kill lust at its roots.


Advertisement


If you stop lusting, you are less likely to reap the terrible consequences and escalated behavior that come later. If you learn to be lust-free and honor women and yourself, you are far less likely to bear the fruit of lust. Keep an eye on the real problem: lust.

Once you kill lust, the fruit of the Spirit can grow in its place, feeding those you love with good fruit. The real problem isn’t the actual behavior with which you have struggled. It’s lust. Lust is the fuel for sexual sin, period.

When you eradicate lust, the fuel these behaviors feed upon is disabled, so the “little lust” really is the big problem to be solved in order to live a lust-free life. You are presented with decisions to make daily. Many of those decisions must be made without much thought. This means you have to train your immediate responses to avoid lust. READ MORE