For many people lust is like a coin. On one side, lust tailors promises to the individual. Lust promises to satisfy needs of intimacy, acceptance, satisfaction, fulfilment, happiness, and relief from pain. It disguises itself as a ‘solution’ to these needs, only to provide the opposite, such as separation, rejection, emptiness, loneliness and more pain. On the other side of the coin, lust promises a sense of satisfaction in engaging with the fantasy image or thought, however, that one image or thought fuels a greater desire for even more lust. Both the high and the sense of shame and guilt that lust generates draws the person into isolation and more lust, to cope with the inner disturbance.
Lust appears as a friend, someone offering life. Behind this deception is an enemy who is only interested in the individual’s destruction. This enemy has not changed since its appearance since Genesis 3.
Can you identify lust and its ‘promises’ in your own life?
God also has promises tailored to his people. He promises to meet all our needs (Phil 4:19), to give hope and a future (Jer 29:11), to give us rest (Mt 11:28) and to give us peace (Jn 14:27). The deepest needs of belonging and identity can be satisfied when surrendering to the Creator when tempted. Surrendering ones freedom to lust, to the One who can handle the temptation, allows true freedom to be experienced. King David proclaimed, ‘Praise the Lord…who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s’ (Ps 103: 2-5). There is life after lust. The God who is the same yesterday, today and forever is ready and waiting to satisfy the soul with His promises.
What promises has God spoken to you? What needs do you need God to meet?
