Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart[1].
Many desires such as the desire for a marriage relationship are good[2], but as with all desires they are polluted and corrupted by sin[3], the desire for intimacy is not exempt from this. Lusts are desires which consume us, we are captured by them.
Lust is not only a problem confined to the unmarried. Self-control is required in every area of life, whether married or unmarried[4]. You may think that your uncontrolled desires are evidence that you are not a Christian, but are you attempting to heed God’s word, and flee youthful lusts?
God’s instruction through the Apostle Paul to the young Pastor Timothy is to flee youthful lusts, but not just to flee them, to instead follow righteousness, faith, charity and peace.
Potiphar’s wife was Joseph’s temptation[5], maybe your phone is yours? How do you flee from that? Getting rid of your phone of course isn’t a long-term solution, accountability software might help. Potiphar’s wife was constantly pressing Joseph to sleep with her, to remove himself from the temptation Joseph avoided being with her, Joseph took practical steps to avoid the temptation, so should you.
Whilst it is prudent to avoid sources of temptation, idleness can also be dangerous. Relaxation time is necessary, but it can be a hotbed for temptation in certain scenarios. The battleground is in the mind. Is there not a sense of hypocrisy if you are praying for God to keep you from sin, and yet making no effort to avoid situations that present fertile ground for sinful thoughts, and actions?
How can you expect to follow righteousness, faith, charity, and peace, when you spend so little time filling your mind with Christ’s ways, and words? Modern technology brings with it many temptations and snares, but it also provides an endless stream of sermons, podcasts, and books. There has never been a time in history when people have had so much access to The Word of God.
Maybe you say, “will God ever deliver me from my lusts?” You will never be completely free from the sin of lust in this life. The only place where your condemnation for sin can be removed is in Christ[6]. Christians are not condemned in God’s sight, because Christ’s perfect obedience to the law is given to them[7], and Christ has paid the death penalty they deserved for their sin[8].
Are you a captive to your lust? Then remember the words of Christ:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord[9].
Bible References [click links below to read references]
[1] 2 Timothy 2:22, [2] Hebrews 13:4, [3] Ecclesiastes 7:29, [4] 1 Corinthians 9:27, [5] Genesis 39,
[6] Romans 8:1 [7] 1 John 2:2, [8] John 1:29, [9] Luke 4:18-19.