Do you know how to kill a frog? I know it’s a weird question but amazingly enough if you put a frog in a pot of water on your stove and over time slowly turn up the burner to increase the temperature of the water that frog will never attempt to jump out of the water because his body adjusts to the rising temperature. Even when the water is boiling hot that frog won’t attempt to jump out. In fact, he will lay in that water until he has been boiled to death.
What is the point of this story? Because that is the way that lust works. In the 1960’s Television stations would not air a bedroom on TV and if they did, they had to show the married couple sleeping in two separate twin beds.
Now you can turn on Netflix and the people that are in bed aren’t even married and no one has a problem with it. We call it entertainment. In the 1960’s the Beetles sang, “I want to hold your hand”. Today popular pop music wants to do more than just hold a person’s hand. And here is what is interesting. No one has a problem with it. We sing these songs without even thinking about it. It’s like we are getting used to the temperature being raised all around us and eventually we are boiled to death.
That is what lust does to us. It slowly raises the temperature in our life until we are a miserable mess. This was not God’s plan. God did not intend for us to lust after one another. God intended sex to be a gift to be enjoyed between a husband and his wife.
Genesis 2:24-25 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
Lust has perverted the amazing gift of sex and now we live in a society that has been damaged because we have chosen lust over love. Vast majority of internet traffic is to pornographic websites. These are visited by both men and women. We look at things that just aren’t healthy for our soul and we live with such much guilt and shame. There is a deadly cycle to lust.
Lust always starts with a thought. Rather than getting rid of that thought and refocusing our attention onto something else we allow that thought to stay in our minds. The thought moves to our imagination. We see ourselves engaging in that act and then we desire to put ourselves in a position to see what we’ve imagined become a reality. Now we have set ourselves up to fail. The only thing left to do is to fulfill that lustful thought and satisfy the lust that is inside of us.
Once we have allowed ourselves to go this far, we find ourselves spiraling out of control. First with:
The good news is God has a better plan for our life than to be driven by our lust.
How do we break free?
1. REDIRECT OUR EYES AND RETRAIN OUR MIND.
Proverbs 23:7 (NASB) says. “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.”
The battle begins right here in our mind. We have to ask ourselves, “What am I putting in front of my eyes that is drawing us to the thoughts of lust?
If it is the TV, get rid of it. If it is the computer, get rid of it. If it is your smartphone get rid of it. If that seems unrealistic, then you need to find some way of applying these changes. Talk to your parents about your struggles, get filters added to the sites and media you’ve interacted with. Just start today by talking to one of our leaders in the room.
Because what we see is what we become. What we think about determines what we end up doing. Listen to the words of Jesus.
"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." Matthew 5:27-30 (NIV)
I don’t think Jesus is telling us to literally take a sharp object and poke our eye out but he is trying to get our attention. Jesus knows how damaging the sin of lust is and he is saying do whatever it takes to keep it out of your sight.
So, what are you thinking about? What are you listening to? What are you looking at? What do you need to get rid of?
2. REACH OUT TO A FRIEND OR A PARENT
James 5:16 (NIV) "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
We confess to God for forgiveness, we confess to a friend for help and healing. Every one of us needs accountability. We need someone who we have given permission to look us in the eye and tell us when we are being stupid.
Lust ends up making a person feel so lonely and alone. Lust tries to convince us that we are the only ones who face this struggle and that just isn’t true. We have to talk to someone about these struggles in our minds and choices.
People who give into lust feel so alone. They feel like no one would understand what they are going through so they keep it inside and continue in the deadly cycle. It’s time to open up and share your struggle with a friend or a parent.
3. RUN TO CHRIST
Admit to God that this is a problem in your life and ask for his strength to not be consumed by this anymore. We have to stop living a less than kind of a life.
We need to stop settling and start spending more time with God.
Psalm 119:9 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Some of us are acting like what we are talking about isn’t that big of a deal. You think somehow you are the exception to the rule. Lust might affect someone else in a negative way but not you. You have it under control.
We need to stop living as close to the edge as we can and start living as close as we can to Jesus.
An elderly couple needed to hire a driver to take them from place to place. The woman was interviewing three different potential drivers, and she said to these guys, “You need to understand that in our driveway, it curves around and there is a brick retaining wall that if you are not careful, you will scratch up our car on the wall.” She asked, “How close do you think you can get to the wall without scratching the car?”
The first guy was really confident. He said, “Ma’am, I’ve been doing this for a long time. I bet you I can get you consistently a foot within that wall and I will never scratch your car.” The second guy said, “A foot, that’s nothing. I’ve been doing this even longer. I can guarantee you; I can get within six inches of that wall and never scratch your car.” The third guy, who got the job said, “Ma’am, it’s obvious that your car is very, very important to you. I’ll promise you; I’ll keep your car so far away from the wall that you will never have to worry about it being scratched.”
Instead of asking ourselves how close can I get to the edge we need to ask ourselves how close can I stay to God?
Now I realize that I am talking to a bunch of people who have made these mistakes in the past. Let’s just be honest. Has anyone ever lusted? We are not alone. All of us have made mistakes and know we need a Savior.
There is a story in John chapter 4 about an encounter that Jesus had with a woman by a well. This woman had been married 5 times and the man she was living with currently wasn’t her husband. She had messed up and she knew it. That is why she is drawing her water during the hottest part of the day. She wants to avoid everyone else. She is tired of living with the guilt and the shame of what she has done but she can’t figure a way out.
The Bible says that Jesus had to go through Samaria to meet this woman. Why? Because it was time for her to leave her past behind. Jesus came just for her and offered her a second chance. A chance she never thought she would ever receive.
Would you like one? You can start over right now. If you have had enough of this stuff. If you are tired of living with the guilt and the shame today could be the day you finally break free.
Tell God, “I can’t do this anymore. I need your help and I need your forgiveness. Please give me the courage to talk to someone who can hold me accountable to being the person that deep down inside I really want to be.”
Then do it. Don’t go on with your day and not talk to someone who can help you through this! Find freedom from these struggles today.
©2024 Sagebrush Church
