Rudy GrayIs there a problem with sexual lust today? In Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus taught that lust is mental or emotional adultery. It is not simply the results of lust that Jesus condemned but lust itself.
There is certainly a difference in a person’s sexual appetite or drive and lust.
Lust is the intense, obsessive, sexual craving that reveals a self-centered, self-focused, and selfish attitude. Lust drives the pornography industry.
Pornography is a growing problem among men in America. Pornography is estimated to be the third largest money maker for organized crime, following drugs and gambling. Some studies have indicated that 86 percent of rapists admitted the regular use of pornography. There are more than 4 million child molesters in this country, and 12 percent of all websites (more than 4 million) on the Internet are pornographic. Around 72 million visits are made yearly to pornographic sites, and more than 100,000 young people are being solicited for sex every day in America in chat rooms.
The most powerful force in the world is not nuclear warheads, but sex. Archibald Hart, in his book, “Healing Life’s Hidden Addictions,” has observed, “The human sex drive operates out of the cortex, that thin outer layer of the brain where all learning takes place. The fact that our sex drive is controlled by our brains also means that we can take our sex drive and add power to it with thoughts, fantasies, images, etc. The more we enhance our sex drive this way, the more addictive it becomes.”
Women seem to be more given to lustful addictions for romance, while men most often develop lustful addictions sexually.
Lust is a problem we face in the church today among professing Christians. There is a solution. In Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus was not suggesting physical mutilation, but radical changes in our thought life.
Lust must be dealt with as sin, and it must be handled at the level of the heart. Sexual sin can be forgiven, but it is also damaging. Images in the mind seem to die slow deaths. Jesus called for a definite commitment and a ruthless self-denial.
The excuse is often given that a person simply cannot stop the addiction. Addiction is difficult and destructive, but unless the addiction is stopped, a person’s quality of life also will be stopped.
Joseph fled when he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife. David lusted after Bathsheba and endured great pain, failure and disappointment as a result. Finally, he prayed the prayer that is the starting point for any man or woman trapped by a lustful heart: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10).