The Seven Deadly Sins and Your Marriage - Day 6

LUST

Lust is familiar to most of us.  It is a word that is very much a part of our culture.  It can be defined as a passionate desire for something.  That would include things like power.  Yet, what we most often associate with lust is a very strong sexual desire.  The Bible tells us that adultery is wrong.  When you are married to is wrong to have sex with someone that is not your spouse.  The Bible also says that if we lust after someone in our heart it is just as wrong as the act of adultery.  So if I see a woman and focus on a desire to have sex with her, it is just as wrong as if I committed the act.

As men, lust can be an big issue for us.  We are very visual.  If an attractive woman crosses your path, it is impossible not to notice her but then you have a choice to make.  You can continue to stare at her, undress her mentally, think what it would be like to have sex with her, and so on.  You get the idea.  This is a path that far too many men take and it is a path that will destroy your marriage.  Your other choice is to ‘bounce your eyes.’  You can make the choice NOT to stare at her, NOT to undress her mentally, NOT think what it would be like to have sex with her. This is a path that honors yoiur marriage.

If I am going to lust, it is going to be for my wife.  She is God’s gift to me.  My attraction to her has grown greater each year that we have been together.  I desire her and I cherish what we have in the sexual relationship together.  There is a Hebrew word that describes the sexual relationship in a Christian marriage.  The word is ‘dowd.’  It is loosely translated as ‘a mingling of souls.’  It is the difference between having sex and really having sex.  The best sex ever is in the context of a Christian marriage where a husband and a wife are passionate for and about each other.  Sex outside of this is really just two bodies banging against each other.  Do not settle for less than God’s best.  Don’t let lust steal that away from you.

Dr. Kim