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L U S T

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
Lust: The sex drive. The craving for sexual gratification.
National Geographic documentary

Matthew 5:28
“You have heard it said do not commit adultery, but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
So here's an emotional response, created in man by god, that people are suppose to immediately turn off whenever it appears, and if one doesn't want to or can't there's dire consequences. As Matthew goes on to tell it, it amounts to adultery. In fact, according to Matthew 5:29 if a person does lust, they should rip their eyes out.

29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your body parts than to have your whole body thrown into hell.​

Pretty drastic don't you think for possessing a god-given emotion that happens to get shifted into gear through no fault of one's own.

So, is it wrong to crave (have a powerful desire for) sex, god's insurance that animals continue to propagate their species? My suspicion is that god foresaw that simple desire wasn't going to be a strong enough emotion to get people into a mating mood--few people are all that attractive to bump bare bodies together. Sure, some would get it on, but a lot wouldn't. Hence lust, the top gear of sexual desire, was built into our machinery. And recognizing this I don't believe it deserves the bad rep the Bible tries to lay on it. Which brings us to its treatment of lust itself. Matthew doesn't say it's bad to lust and act on it. NO! He says lusting is simply bad in of itself. Don't dare have this god-given emotional response or you'll have to rip your eyes out. Crazy? Sure it is.

Of course, if anyone here believes lust is bad enough reason to rip one's eyes out please share.


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It is comical to realize that this means that from Junior High onward, guys are committing adultery daily at a minimum. Not only that, but every man who gets married has committed adultery with the woman he marries right up until the time of the wedding. It's just ludicrous.
 

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
It shows that the love and the sex are not the same thing at all.
Did I say they were? That would be the last thing I'd ever say, but I do believe that within the marital relationship, sex is one of many different ways in which we can express our love. It's neither better nor worse than any of the other ways, as all of them have their place.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Lust: The sex drive. The craving for sexual gratification..

Today, the word "lust" is pretty much synonymous with sexual desire, as you said. However, I think that could be a more or less modern innovation. I've been told that the word used to mean excessive sexual desire. That is lust was to sexual desire what greed is to money. Not a mere desire for sex, but a "greed" for more sex than one needs or is appropriate. If any of that is correct, then one might do well to read "sexual obsession" when one comes across the word "lust" in ancient writings. But I've never confirmed it. It's just what I've heard.
 

james bond

Well-Known Member
Care to rephrase this please. But let me just say, lust is not sexual gratification or sexual pleasure, or greed and possession, but The craving for sexual gratification.

Definition of craving
  1. : an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire or longing.
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Which are you going by the dictionary or the Bible explanation? You were off on your Biblical explanation. I think the Bible treats lust as the craving.
 

james bond

Well-Known Member
How exactly do you go from regular lust straight to rape? I'm not seeing the connection. Rape isn't really about sexual attraction, but about power, control and humiliation.

Actually, your post doesn't make a whole lot of sense, period.

I guess I thought of rape because of the pluck your eyes out part. This is part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, "If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matthew 5:29–30)."

This is a part of the Bible that gets debated greatly. Some interpret this as hyperbole, which I would agree with, if we're talking about seeing someone who is sexually attractive and attracted. In the Sermon on the Mount, I think Jesus is talking about lust in regards to wanting your neighbor's wife, coveting someone else's possessions, committing adultery, rape, robbery and such. These are egregious sins when our lust is carried out in our behavior. How many men fake a relationship in order to get sex? How many women use sex to get something they want or ahead in life? This is where lusting in the heart is out of control and which can lead to more serious sins. It's addictive. That's my interpretation.

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This could be a topic for another time, but I think lust also gets expanded as part of the sexual sins.

Question: "What makes sexual sin such a big deal?"

"Modern culture has tried to redefine sexuality as a personal right to be exercised any way an individual wishes. Sexual behavior is considered a personal choice, akin to the decision of whether to buy a house or rent a condo. At the same time, popular opinion has all but removed the word sin from our culture’s vocabulary. The only sexual expression considered “wrong” is what is deemed distasteful to the definer. However, social acceptability varies so greatly that even the vilest of acts would be considered justified by many. So, before we can determine why sexual sin is such a big deal, we have to define sexual sin.

Fortunately, man has never been given the privilege of defining sin. The One who created sexuality also has the right to set the boundaries for it, and the Bible is clear about the guidelines. When God created the first man, Adam, and brought to him the first woman, Eve, He joined them together in marriage and pronounced it “very good” (Genesis 1:31; 2:18, 24). At that time, God introduced sexuality and set the boundaries for its expression. God created a union between a husband and wife that He called “becoming one flesh” (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:8; Ephesians 5:31). He then defined any sexual activity outside of the husband-wife relationship as a violation of His gift. Fornication, homosexuality, pornography, and lust are all violations of God’s intent when He created the sexual act (1 Corinthians 6:9,18; Galatians 5:19-20; Jude 1:7; Matthew 5:28; Hebrews 13:4).

So why is the violation of those boundaries such a big deal? The first clue lies in Genesis 2:24 with the words “one flesh.” There is great unifying power within the sexual union. God designed it to involve not only bodies but hearts and lives. Sex was designed to consummate the lifetime union between a man and woman. Jesus said, “What God has joined together let no one separate” (Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9). He designed male and female bodies differently so that they could come together in an act of physical intimacy that joins them together for life. They “are no longer two, but one flesh” (Mark 10:8). The act of becoming one creates a new entity: a family. This powerful force also brings forth new life (Genesis 4:25). The human race can only be propagated by the coming together of a man and a woman. And, within marriage, God blesses it (Genesis 1:28; 9:27; Psalm 17:3). Sex is a gift to a husband and wife to make their relationship unique among all other relationships."

What makes sexual sin such a big deal?
 

Sleeppy

Fatalist. Christian. Pacifist.
He's specifying covetousness:

Exodus 20:17

Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ***, or anything which [is] thy neighbour's.

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Good advice. Do not take ownership of things not yours.
 

Skwim

Veteran Member
He's specifying covetousness:

Exodus 20:17

Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ***, or anything which [is] thy neighbour's.

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Good advice. Do not take ownership of things not yours.
Not ownership, but the desire to own.


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Skwim

Veteran Member
That's Jesus' point: the desire is equal to claim of ownership, e.g. adultery.
So, you believe that desiring your neighbor's new rider lawn mower is equivalent to owning it? I'll give you awhile to think about it. When you figure it out get back to me.


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Sleeppy

Fatalist. Christian. Pacifist.
So, you believe that desiring your neighbor's new rider lawn mower is equivalent to owning it? I'll give you awhile to think about it. When you figure it out get back to me.


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Yes. It's equivalent to claiming ownership. There may be multiple claims, and multiple influences afforded to each individual claim. But, to desire is to claim some degree of ownership to the thing desired.
 

Skwim

Veteran Member
Yes. It's equivalent to claiming ownership. There may be multiple claims, and multiple influences afforded to each individual claim. But, to desire is to claim some degree of ownership to the thing desired.
default_facepalm.gif
Just might have to put you up as a candidate for IGNORE.


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Furball

Member
This is the evil genius of christianity. It attaches guilt to thoughts which people have no control over. Lusting isn't a spiritual issue, but a biological one. That is why you see supposed born again christians struggling with lust, because they are struggling against their own biology, and biology wins everytime. Sexual reproduction and lust are coded into a person's DNA. So unless believing in jesus can physically alter someone's DNA, the lust will continue. Being sexually attracted to someone in your mind isn't a crime. From a biblical perspective, god told the inhabitants of the earth to be fruitful and multiply, which you cannot do unless you lust after (are attracted to) someone first. Even marriage didn't exist in the beginning. Why would god instruct his creation to be fruitful and multiply the earth (reproduction through sexual union) and then punish them for doing so?? The bible is also against people being happy and laughing, people who are filled up on food and people who use reason instead of faith. Does that make any sense at all?? Why would god give people reason or the ability to laugh or eat food and then punish them for it?? This is one of many areas of christianity that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Why would a god, who is running the entire universe and possibly multiversus', give a flip about someone having a sexual thought about someone that lasts for all of a few seconds?? It makes no logical sense in any way, shape or form.
 

Sleeppy

Fatalist. Christian. Pacifist.
default_facepalm.gif
Just might have to put you up as a candidate for IGNORE.


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You're asking for the truth. Consider it:


Job 50:12

"If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.


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Desires are claims of ownership, i.e. entitlement.
 

Jonathan Ainsley Bain

Logical Positivist
Did I say they were? That would be the last thing I'd ever say, but I do believe that within the marital relationship, sex is one of many different ways in which we can express our love. It's neither better nor worse than any of the other ways, as all of them have their place.

But in heaven there is no marriage.
 

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
Do you think that there is no higher state of being/joy/happiness than sexy marriage?
After forty-six years of marriage, I can say with conviction that joy and happiness in marriage is about far more important things than sex. If I never were to have sex again in my life, I would still want to remain married to my spouse. But that's really neither here nor there in terms of whether my marriage will survive the grave or not.
 

Jonathan Ainsley Bain

Logical Positivist
After forty-six years of marriage, I can say with conviction that joy and happiness marriage is about far more than sex. If I never were to have sex again in my life, I would still want to remain married to my spouse. But that's really neither here nor there in terms of whether my marriage will survive the grave or not.

Well after 5 years of marriage and sex 3 times a day; I 'd had enough. (5000 times)
14 years later, and it just seems like a cloying claustrophobic neediness and fear.

Now if I presume to take the average of 3 times a week multiplied by 46 years thats 7000 times.

Sorry, I'm just a compulsive calculator.
But how much is enough to be tired of it?
 
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