Lust: Desire Gone Mad
"If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. "
-- C.S. Lewis in "The Weight of Glory"
When was the last time you had a conversation about rewards in the Bible or heard a teaching about them? I would wager that it has been a long time, if at all. Now I want to ask you another question. When was the last time you experienced emotions connected to your longing to be enjoyed, wanted, respected, successful, secure, fascinated, or significant? I imagine you've recently felt these longings in your heart -- either unmet leading to pain, or satisfied bringing you pleasure. The quote above suggests there is little difference in these two questions.
Lewis goes on to say we have a secret in our hearts that we cannot hide and cannot tell. He is speaking about the awareness of an inconsolable longing we cannot hide because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we cannot tell because it has never actually appeared in our existence. He describes this secret as our desire for heaven. Few people think or talk directly about this desire, yet it generates so much pain that we naturally take revenge on it, renaming it something else with the hope we can resolve it in the natural.
The word in the New Testament that is translated "lust" means strong desire. When we hear the word today, we typically associate it with some type of sexual immorality, yet Jesus uses the same word to describe His passion for His disciples: "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). Paul also uses the word to say he strongly desired to depart from this life to be with the Lord (Phil. 1:23), and yet he also strongly desired to be with his friends (1 Thess. 2:17). Strong, passionate, eager desire -- or lust -- is consistent with God's purpose for our lives. God has placed deep, passionate desire within the human heart.
But we know this desire can go awry, becoming destructive. Destructive lust is any consuming desire that is either out of bounds or out of balance. Out of bounds lust is a desire for any person, object, or idea that is inconsistent with God's expressed desire for us to love Him and others. To sexually desire one's spouse is appropriate (in bounds); to desire our neighbor's wife is inappropriate (out of bounds).
Out of balance lust is any legitimate desire that blocks our ability to serve God and others. An example would be a man who is so consumed by doing well at work (a legitimate desire) that he is unable to spend time pursuing God. Or a neighbor who can't say no to her friend's desire to go to a movie is imbalanced in her lust for acceptance.
Defined in this way, no one is free from the battle of lust. Why does lust have power in our lives? Because there are inescapable cravings at the core of every human heart that cannot be ignored, denied or pacified: they must be satisfied. They cannot be reasoned with, negated or dismissed. If they are not attended to, they will overtake us. Unfortunately, people often don't have insight into their origin, and spend an inordinate amount of time alternating between denying desires and fulfilling them in unhealthy, ungodly ways.
We are made for pleasure. Sin is pleasurable and sin appears to be the most pleasurable thing the human spirit can experience. Tragically, the inferior pleasures of sin have the potential to dominate our lives if they are the only pleasures we experience. Until one begins to experience the superior pleasures of being equally yoked as a bride with our Bridegroom King, we won't be empowered to let go of the inferior ones.
Lewis says we need the strongest spell (God) to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness which has been laid upon us. Instead of silencing this inner secret and looking for an answer on the earth, we need the Holy Spirit to give us insight into how these desires are meant to be satisfied. The "half-hearted," "ignorant child" described above doesn't know he or she is made for: 1) greatness (ruling on thrones, having authority), 2) beauty (wearing crowns, heavenly garments, displaying glory like the stars -- now and in the future), 3) fascination (being overwhelmed with the awe, beauty, power of Christ), 4) intimacy (being fully known and enjoyed without shame), and 5) impact (ruling and reigning alongside Christ now and forever).
We are ignorant because we really don't seek or have an understanding of the ultimate fulfillment of these desires. This "desire for heaven" terminology is dull and uninspiring apart from divine revelation into what it actually means. If we set our hearts to go after these superior pleasures in God (believing that what will be experienced in full in the future can be experienced in part now), the inferior pleasures over time won't be nearly as attractive.
Half-hearted followers of Christ have too much of God to enjoy sin and too much of sin to enjoy God. This is a miserable place to be, yet many continue to give verbal assent to the superior things of God, but give themselves much more fully to things that feed their flesh. Until we get to a place of whole-heartedness before God, we will never find satisfaction or be effective.
As you read this today, I pray the Spirit of God gives you the awareness of His offer of a holiday at the sea. Respond to this offer. Ask Him for insight into what these longings are to lead you to. If your heart isn't connected with the "unblushing promises of reward" that are found in the Gospels, there is a level of enchantment that needs to break in your life.
May your desires deepen as you experience His burning affections resting upon you.
Kraig Skistad
"If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. "
-- C.S. Lewis in "The Weight of Glory"
When was the last time you had a conversation about rewards in the Bible or heard a teaching about them? I would wager that it has been a long time, if at all. Now I want to ask you another question. When was the last time you experienced emotions connected to your longing to be enjoyed, wanted, respected, successful, secure, fascinated, or significant? I imagine you've recently felt these longings in your heart -- either unmet leading to pain, or satisfied bringing you pleasure. The quote above suggests there is little difference in these two questions.
Lewis goes on to say we have a secret in our hearts that we cannot hide and cannot tell. He is speaking about the awareness of an inconsolable longing we cannot hide because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we cannot tell because it has never actually appeared in our existence. He describes this secret as our desire for heaven. Few people think or talk directly about this desire, yet it generates so much pain that we naturally take revenge on it, renaming it something else with the hope we can resolve it in the natural.
The word in the New Testament that is translated "lust" means strong desire. When we hear the word today, we typically associate it with some type of sexual immorality, yet Jesus uses the same word to describe His passion for His disciples: "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). Paul also uses the word to say he strongly desired to depart from this life to be with the Lord (Phil. 1:23), and yet he also strongly desired to be with his friends (1 Thess. 2:17). Strong, passionate, eager desire -- or lust -- is consistent with God's purpose for our lives. God has placed deep, passionate desire within the human heart.
But we know this desire can go awry, becoming destructive. Destructive lust is any consuming desire that is either out of bounds or out of balance. Out of bounds lust is a desire for any person, object, or idea that is inconsistent with God's expressed desire for us to love Him and others. To sexually desire one's spouse is appropriate (in bounds); to desire our neighbor's wife is inappropriate (out of bounds).
Out of balance lust is any legitimate desire that blocks our ability to serve God and others. An example would be a man who is so consumed by doing well at work (a legitimate desire) that he is unable to spend time pursuing God. Or a neighbor who can't say no to her friend's desire to go to a movie is imbalanced in her lust for acceptance.
Defined in this way, no one is free from the battle of lust. Why does lust have power in our lives? Because there are inescapable cravings at the core of every human heart that cannot be ignored, denied or pacified: they must be satisfied. They cannot be reasoned with, negated or dismissed. If they are not attended to, they will overtake us. Unfortunately, people often don't have insight into their origin, and spend an inordinate amount of time alternating between denying desires and fulfilling them in unhealthy, ungodly ways.
We are made for pleasure. Sin is pleasurable and sin appears to be the most pleasurable thing the human spirit can experience. Tragically, the inferior pleasures of sin have the potential to dominate our lives if they are the only pleasures we experience. Until one begins to experience the superior pleasures of being equally yoked as a bride with our Bridegroom King, we won't be empowered to let go of the inferior ones.
Lewis says we need the strongest spell (God) to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness which has been laid upon us. Instead of silencing this inner secret and looking for an answer on the earth, we need the Holy Spirit to give us insight into how these desires are meant to be satisfied. The "half-hearted," "ignorant child" described above doesn't know he or she is made for: 1) greatness (ruling on thrones, having authority), 2) beauty (wearing crowns, heavenly garments, displaying glory like the stars -- now and in the future), 3) fascination (being overwhelmed with the awe, beauty, power of Christ), 4) intimacy (being fully known and enjoyed without shame), and 5) impact (ruling and reigning alongside Christ now and forever).
We are ignorant because we really don't seek or have an understanding of the ultimate fulfillment of these desires. This "desire for heaven" terminology is dull and uninspiring apart from divine revelation into what it actually means. If we set our hearts to go after these superior pleasures in God (believing that what will be experienced in full in the future can be experienced in part now), the inferior pleasures over time won't be nearly as attractive.
Half-hearted followers of Christ have too much of God to enjoy sin and too much of sin to enjoy God. This is a miserable place to be, yet many continue to give verbal assent to the superior things of God, but give themselves much more fully to things that feed their flesh. Until we get to a place of whole-heartedness before God, we will never find satisfaction or be effective.
As you read this today, I pray the Spirit of God gives you the awareness of His offer of a holiday at the sea. Respond to this offer. Ask Him for insight into what these longings are to lead you to. If your heart isn't connected with the "unblushing promises of reward" that are found in the Gospels, there is a level of enchantment that needs to break in your life.
May your desires deepen as you experience His burning affections resting upon you.
Kraig Skistad