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Lust – every man’s battle.
Love is seeking someone else’s good at my expense; lust is seeking my own good at someone else’s expense. Love leads to life, lust leads to loneliness. Love is of God, lust is of the enemy.
How do we effectively battle lust so we can wholeheartedly love “Eve” in our life, even if she has yet to be revealed to us by God? My son and I were recently talking about this on a road trip we took after he finished exams.
There are two significant battlegrounds in our war with lust: our eyes and our mind. We need to be able to set up an effective perimeter around our eyes and our mind to stop lust from penetrating into our heart.
I had a strange thought cross my mind as we were devising an effective strategy. I thought of an old Alexander Keith’s beer commercial. There’s a crazy kilt-clad Scotsman in the commercial who attempts to launch a misguided revolt in a pub because the bartender has allowed the Alexander Keith’s draft to run out. The bar tender then presents a bottle of Alexander Keith’s, the emboldened Scot realizes his folly and commands everyone to “Look away!” while he gets down from the table upon which he has been grandstanding.
“Look away!” is our first defense against lust.
Noticing an attractive woman is not the problem, it is the examination that’s problematic. The second look can trip you up. So, if you happen to notice an attractive woman or an attractive ‘part’ of a woman – look away! Hear the voice of a crazy Scotsman shouting , “Look away!” It is also important to know if there is any particular part of a woman’s body you are attracted to, then don’t let your eyes wander there – “Look away!” Focus on her eyes, or look away all together.
Job indicated he had made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully upon a woman. He promised himself he would “Look away!” – He wouldn’t take the second look. He then talked about the battleground of his mind when he indicated he would not “lurk at his neighbor’s door”. This speaks of Job not allowing his mind to think on, or fantasize about a woman who is not his wife.
You know how this progression works men. First a woman catches your eye, you take a second look, you then begin to think about…well, you fill in the blank. It could be as simple as, “I wish my wife would dress like that”, or it could be something far more suggestive or overtly sexual. We can’t go there. That is lurking at your neighbour’s door.
Our next battle cry needs to be, “Lurk away!”
Don’t let your mind go there. The most powerful weapon you have is your will: wield it well and don’t think those thoughts. If you have to start quoting scripture, praying, singing or reciting the elements of the periodic table, then do it. Shift your thoughts. Scripture calls this “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”. The MacLean Anti-lust Translation for this verse is, “Lurk away!” If your thoughts are not God-honoring, or Eve-honoring, then take them captive and toss them out – “Lurk away!”
This all starts with settling the issue that you are ‘not for sale’. You have chosen to flee, not flirt with lust. You have chosen to honor God and Eve by choice, and by the grace of God. Being ‘not for sale’ means you are not cultivating attractions with women and not giving out signals you are ‘for sale’. Godly men are not for sale, they are sold out to God. Firmly plant a ‘not for sale’ sign in your heart.
So, in the battle against lust let’s set up strong perimeters around our eyes and minds. Let’s make our battle cries, “Look away!”, and “Lurk away!” and stop lust from penetrating our hearts – for God’s sake, and Eve’s sake.
Job 31:1
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.”
Job 31:9,10
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her.”
2 Corinthians 10:5
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”