20 Feb Temptation of LUST!

An ancient weapon exists that has the potential to destroy anyone. It lurks in disguise within the flesh. Its list of victims and infamous victories over them are numerous. No one can fully draw himself or herself away from this weapon. There are reliable sources that claim of the fall of great men of God including the mightiest of them all. The source is the Bible. The man is David (2 Sam. 11: 2-5). The weapon is lust.

Feelings of lust exist in all human beings. Denying this fact only makes matters worse. When we see an enemy approaching, we can take evasive action. However, if we convince ourselves that this enemy is no threat, we will concede defeat even before this fight begins. Martin Roberts was no stranger to this situation. He fell when he was at the height of exercising his faith in Jesus Christ. It was a time when demonic forces fled from his presence and at a time when his prayers tormented evil spirits.

From his early life, demonic forces in the area of lust oppressed Martin. It was either a dirty poster or an advertisement to a dirty movie that found their way into his cupboard. When Martin gave his life to the Christ, the situation changed. He was able to counter these temptations effectively through prayer and the Spirit of God. In turn, his life changed dramatically. The shy and soft-spoken lad was transforming into a powerful entity in God’s army.

Discernment is always a wise option when we hear voices in our minds. Testing the source is extremely important. One wonders if Martin thought about this when he listened to the voice that spoke of revenge against pornography. Pornography is the commoner’s Bathsheba, everyone’s Delilah. All people face entrapment in various degrees of pornography and just like any other addiction, pornography has its stages too.

The first stage is looking through dirty posters, staying glued to music channels, or deriving sexual pleasure out of scantily clad people. The next level is imagining lustful behaviour towards either known people or from fantasy (Matt. 5:27). The third level involves the internet. Did you know that 97% of content on the internet is pornographic? This is a dangerous level and it churns out three kinds of personalities. The first kind simply entertains lustful thoughts in private. The second type explores the different varieties of filth offered up. The last type acts on the lustful thoughts in the real world; fornicators, rapists, serial killers, wife beaters, child molesters, to name a few. All three are dangerous places to be. In addition, remember the inputs for this article are from a former pornography addict. There are no assumptions in this article; only facts.

Martin, listened to the voice. He visited internet centres and scanned the networks for pornographic content. He would then proceed to delete all of it. Slowly, a dangerous curiosity crept in and he started to view the content. Within a year of starting his crusade against pornographic content, Martin became a type one pornographic addict. He kept grieving the Spirit of God and he abandoned his fellowship altogether. It would take years for Martin to successfully fight and defeat the addiction of pornography. Although he is free from the clutches of lust and now knows how to fight it off, the addiction that lasted more than a decade effectively ended his greatest desire, A service to God in student ministry during the days of his youth.

How do we combat the temptation of lust?

A DT Camp themed, “Flee, follow, and fight” held is the best strategy we can use. Flee the temptation to indulge in the act. One may crawl until the temptation overtakes and consumes us. Please do not allow this to happen. Follow God’s instructions given in the Bible. There is no room for pornographers in Heaven or anywhere in the Kingdom of Christ (2 Peter 2: 9-10). Fight temptation with prayers and songs of praise to the Heavenly Father. Believe me it is better to have a crowd stare awkwardly at you for suddenly singing “Give Thanks” on a crowded bus than to not fight the temptation of lust. This world is turning perverse with every passing day. All the deadly sins are gaining legal status in several countries. Our alien citizenship is becoming apparent with every new law that protects a sinful or unnatural act. Our only defense is to flee from temptation. Take the example of Joseph. He was a youthful young man and he was in charge of the house. Who would know if he yielded to Potiphar’s wife and gratified himself? Yet, he fled from the scene (Gen. 39: 4-12). Boys, do not wait around for an excuse, just flee! Girls, you are not immune to this temptation either. If you think that you cannot become a slave to lust because of your gender, you are already in danger of attacks from the devil in this area. Before you even think about it let me stop you; scantily clad women in movies, any portrayal of immoral behavior, gay themes, erotic novels, and sexually laced video games also fall into the lust bucket. Please remain on guard at all times.
(Note: This is the real-life story and the names have been changed)

Prathap Samuel
The author serves as a Business Manager of a writing company. He lives in Chennai with his wife and four year old daughter. His mission is to write about biblical ethics and its correlation with present world’s young adults.