The following is a transcript I created of a YouTube video published by Lion of Judah entitled “Stop Fighting With LUST! Do This Instead | MUST WATCH NOW!!!” For the embedded video, continue to the end of the article.
The ultimate cure to lust. Human nature is corrupted by lust. The fall of man has perverted the way we are and the things we desire. Sin corrupts. Sin distorts. Sin changed the very nature of mankind. This is why lust is such a major problem for mankind. If there is any sin that has plagued mankind and that has destroyed many lives — and is still destroying lives today — it is lust.
Ephesians 4:22: That you put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.
Lust is deceptive. Lust is uncontrolled evil desires and lust shows itself in uncontrolled passion. Time and time again, the Bible gives example after example of how lust carries peoples’ lives in the path of destruction. And how it can dictate the very decisions an individual can make.
How is lust stimulated? Lust is stimulated by the eyes.
Job 31:1: I have made a covenant with mine eyes. Why then shall I think upon a maid?
1 John 2:16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Lust is stimulated. Lust is cultivated by what men and women see with their eyes. If you have a problem with lust, you have a problem with your eyes. If you have a problem with watching unholy things on the internet, you have a problem with your eyes. What Job was communicating is that he had made a covenant with his eyes not to look at the nakedness of a maid, let alone allow the thoughts to infiltrate his heart. Job knew something that we don’t know, and that is how our eyes are the problem.
Do you know what this tells me as a believer? This tells me as a believer that as a Christian there are certain things I cannot watch. There are certain places I cannot go. There are TV shows, movies, websites that I cannot watch or go on. It is important to remember that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you are to treat your body as a temple. The same eyes that you are reading God’s Holy Word with are the same eyes you are using to watch unholy things on the internet. Those same eyes that you are using to study Scripture are the same eyes you are using to fulfill your lustful desires. This is wrong.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20: What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Honor the temple of God. The people who create these unholy videos that you watch when you’re alone — remember, that is someone’s child. That is someone’s mother. That is someone’s sister. That’s someone’s daughter. You wouldn’t be comfortable if your sister or your loved one was producing that type of unholy video for money. You wouldn’t be happy about it.
And some may disregard this message and say, “As long as it is not my sister or my loved one, it doesn’t really bother me.” If you have this attitude, you need to question whether or not you are a Christian. A Christian is not cold-hearted toward their fellow man. Have compassion. Have compassion toward your fellow man.
Now, back to the issue of eyes. Allow us to take a look at a godly king.
2 Samuel 11:2: And it came to pass in an eveningtide that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
When David saw Bathsheba, he could have concluded it was a mistake at once and retired to his chamber. But David didn’t stop there. He continued looking because Bathsheba was a very beautiful woman. And she was very beautiful to look upon. That right there is lust. The lust in him was fed by what his eyes saw. He continued to look and look and look and look until he called for her. David laid with her, but it didn’t end there.
This single act of indiscipline led David to other sins that he paid dearly for. He lied, he plotted and schemed, and he even murdered a man because of lust. That is the thing you need to understand about lust. Lust does not end there. Lust has a unique ability to drag you deeper than you plan to go. That is lust. Lust has a unique ability to take you to places you never planned or thought you would be. That one act of looking eventually led him to murder — lust. And for one year David did not walk with God.
How can looking turn into murder?
This is my point. This is my point. Lust will make a person do things they had never ever planned to do. Lust will make a person act outside their character. I have seen people who have had their lives ruined by lust. And they look around and genuinely wonder, “How did I get here? How on earth did my life end up like this?”
Fleeing Lust Versus Fighting Lust
1 Corinthians 6:18: Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
There are things the Bible tells you to fight. And there are things you are told to flee and run away from. And what I have come to realize is people lose the battle against lust and porn for these two reasons: 1.) They are not controlling their eyes; 2.) they are trying to fight something God told them to run away from.
2 Timothy 2:22: Flee also youthful lust. But follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Now allow me to give you some practical examples of the difference between fleeing lust and fighting lust. An example of fighting lust is two people courting one another for marriage. And they choose to spend time together in an empty house with just the two of them there trusting in their own ability to fight lust, trusting in their own self-control to be strong enough to fight lust.
An example of fleeing lust is two people courting one another for marriage and they choose to spend time together but rather than being alone, just the two of them, they have a chaperone who will hold them accountable.
A part of fleeing lust is not putting yourself in situations where you may be forced to lust. Avoid compromising situations. Sometimes compromising situations will just present themselves, but you should not go out looking to put yourself in these situations. If you don’t put yourself in situations where you have to make a decision, by default you are making a good decision. Whereas if you constantly put yourself in a position where you have to make a decision, there is a chance you will make the wrong decision.
Take, for instance, a married man going to a nightclub. First of all, as a Christian, you should not be going to a nightclub. Secondly, going to a nightclub is putting yourself in a compromising situation. When David saw Bathsheba, he was somewhere he shouldn’t have been. Where David should have been was at war with his men. Because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, he found himself in a compromising situation.
2 Timothy 2:22: Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Isn’t it interesting that after Paul tells Timothy to flee youthful lust, he gives him a list of things to follow: righteousness, faith, charity, peace. But what a lot of people forget to notice is that he instructs him to follow these things with a specific type of person. He is to follow these things with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. To overcome lust, you will also have to choose good company.
So there are two directions: one direction leads you to follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace. And the other direction leads you to follow lust. The wrong company will lead you to lust.
What is the company you are keeping?
Certain company makes it easy to lust. Certain company makes it easier to cheat on your husband or wife. “All my friends cheat — why not me?” Certain company makes it easy to fornicate. “All my friends are doing it — why not me?” Certain company makes it easy to watch unholy things on the internet. “All my friends are doing it — why not me?”
How To Defeat Lust And Porn
Two ways to defeat lust and porn:
Number one, control your eyes. Lust begins with your eyes. Fornication begins with your eyes. Adultery begins with your eyes. The urge to watch unholy things on the internet begins with your eyes. Guard your eyes. If you see a beautiful man or beautiful woman walking towards you, then don’t look, like David looked and allowed lust to grow. You can indeed see that someone is beautiful without lusting for them. Guard your eyes.
There are TV shows you should not watch. If you know that these TV shows will trigger you to want to watch immoral videos on the internet, avoid them. The number one problem with lust and porn you need to deal with is your eyes.
And second, they are trying to fight something God told them to run away from. Don’t fight something God told you to run away from. If you attempt to fight lust and attempt to trust yourself in your own self-control, you will lose. Better men and women than you have tried to fight lust and each of them have lust. Lust will destroy you. It will defeat you. It will take away your joy, your happiness, and money.
Avoid compromising situations. What are you doing out at a nightclub? What are you doing texting that person you find attractive who isn’t your husband or wife? What are you doing meeting up with that person you find attractive who isn’t your husband or wife? What are you doing putting yourself in vulnerable situations?
Keep good company. Keep company that wants to follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace.
For more, see Flee Youthful Lust (Paul Washer).
