Defeating Giants (Part 3)

My last 2 posts talked about facing giants in our lives.  The next few posts will take a look at some specific giants we have to face head on.

They say, “Go big or go home.”  Well, let’s start big and talk about the giant of lust.  When it comes to lust we are definitely talking about a giant, and the problem is that so many of us fail because we’re naïve to it’s power. 1 Thessalonians 4 says:

God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor–
not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways.  (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, NLT)

The dictionary defines lust as:
Intense sexual desire or appetite.  Uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness.

Let’s refine that a bit:
An insatiable craving to gratify your fleshly desires by seeking to satisfy a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way.

The fact is, we can lust after money or possessions, power - all kinds of things, but for the sake of this post, we’re going to discuss lust within the context of sexual lust.  The problem we face - particularly in our American culture - is that sex is thrown around casually and constantly.  Television shows make it the norm for people to hop from bed to bed.  Magazines, billboards, the internet - all of these push sex and sexuality at us constantly, and almost always it’s in a way that is completely contrary to God’s plan for our lives.

And this isn’t a “male” problem, it’s a humanity problem - including women.  As we look at the process of lust, there’s no greater example of how lust works than the example of King David in 2 Samuel 11.  I find it a bit ironic that the same individual who slew the giant succumbed to lust.  But even that illustrates to all of us just how insidious and powerful lust is.

Lust moves through a process that looks something like this:

Idleness.  King David had time on his hands because he hadn’t gone to war like kings are supposed to.

Interest.  With that free time he took a stroll and saw Bathsheba bathing and became interested.

Intoxication.  He moved beyond interest to an intoxication of desire.  He began dreaming and fantasizing about her.

Indulgence.  The dream & fantasy was no longer enough.  He had to have her.

Cover-up.  He found out she was pregnant and set the wheels in motion to cover-up his sin.

Sexual lust almost always follows that pattern, and when it does, 3 things happen:

It destroys my convictions.  Think about it:  a little lust led David to commit acts of adultery and murder.  It will eventually cause you to lose your ability to judge right from wrong.

It destroys my character.  Lust destroys you reputation and integrity. You lose both your credibility and the confidence of others because you have no sense of morality and no sense of self-control.

It destroys my connections.  As a result of his sin, David lost his intimacy with God, he lost intimacy with his family, and he lost intimacy with his kingdom.

But there’s a remedy......there are some steps you can take to overcome and defeat sexual lust.

1. I must be accountable.  In the Old Testament story of Joseph, he was being pursued by Potipher’s wife, but Joseph said he couldn’t indulge because he’d have to answer to Potipher and to God.  He had accountability.  So let me ask you:  Who or what holds you accountable?  And I know I’m going to run the risk of being accused as a heretic, but in this case, God isn’t enough.  Before you throw tomatoes, let me explain.

If God were enough to keep us accountable, Adam and Eve would have never sinned.  If God were enough, there would be no sin, no lust, no evil.  But the thing is, we have this strong tendency to focus more on God’s grace than on His judgement for sin.  Because we know God is a God of grace, we tend to look beyond Him and think, “Well, He’ll forgive me.”  That’s why I say God isn’t enough.  God was enough for Joseph, but I’m not sure He’s enough for us.  That’s why we need more.

We need to learn how to bounce our eyes away from the things that tempt us.  We need to learn how to turn and walk away from temptation.  We need to learn the power of repentance and seek God’s forgiveness for lustful thoughts.

2.   I must count the cost.  Joseph not only answered that he had God and Potipher to answer to in authority over him, he also recognized all that he would lose if he engaged in the proposition.  What would you lose?

Like David, clearly you would lose your convictions, your character and your connections.  But what else?  Maybe your family?  Maybe your job?  Maybe the trust of others?  Maybe your self-worth?  It is worth the guilt and emotional turmoil?  Is it worth the shame and damage to your reputation?  Is it worth the risk of disease?  Is it worth getting divorced or estranged from your mate? Is it worth it?

3.     I must stick to my convictions.  I wish I could tell you that simply making a decision not to indulge lust will make it all okay and go away.  It doesn’t.  Potipher’s wife was relentless.  Day after day she was after him to sleep with her.  She used every means to tempt, trick, and turn Joseph.  And day after day, Joseph stuck to his convictions.

Keep your guard up.  Joseph determined to believe the commands of God over the whispers of the wife.  Remember that while lust makes great promises – it can only deliver a lie.

A wealthy couple purchased a new Rolls Royce and wanted to hire a chauffeur. The wife advertised and they were able to narrow the applicants down to 4 candidates.

The wife called the prospective drivers to her balcony and pointed out a brick wall alongside the driveway. She asked the men, "How close do you think you could come to that wall without scratching my car?"

The 1st man felt he could drive within a foot of the wall without damaging the car.  The 2nd felt sure he could come within 6 inches. The 3rd believed he could get within 3 inches.

The 4th candidate said, "I don’t know how close I could come to the wall without damaging your car.  Instead, I would try to stay as far away from that wall as I could."  He’s the one who got the job.

Why?  Because he had a different focus. He understood that true skill in driving is not based so much on the ability to steer the car to a narrow miss as on the ability to keep a wide margin of safety.

Lust is no joking matter.  It’s a real problem in our culture, in our communities, in our churches, and in our homes.  But you can defeat this giant in your life - not by trusting in yourself, but by trusting in God and seeking His help.