So is there a line to be drawn when it comes to lust?
if so, what is it?
When it starts consuming your life and your *cough* gets a bit too red.
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Don't mess with Yoda!
"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done.""
-C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (emphasis mine)
"You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul."
-Chef at the beginning of Ratatouille
The latter is the more correct definition. Lust is not exclusive to just sexual desires. The Bible also speaks of the lust for money being the root of all evil. Lust is beyond a normal desire, it's something that can consume you and distract you from more important things of life.
If that's the case, then count me guilty of lusting after Jesus!
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Can the will at the same time make opposite choices? Can it choose the highest good of being as an ultimate end, and at the same time choose any other ultimate end, or make any choices whatever inconsistent with this ultimate choice?
The first thing you and your freind need to define if your concern with who the Bible uses the word lust or the way people are using the word lust today. People today can use lust pretty broad definition I think.
Since some Christians seem to want to make us guys feel guilty about sexual lust I like to stick close to the Bible. There I find the word that is translated lust in Mat.5 to usually be used in a positive way in the Bible. Both Jesus and good angels are said to lust in the Bible.
The other thing to note is that Paul uses this word when he is talking about the 9th commandment were we aren't to covet our neighbor's things, wife etc. But only the Mat.5 verse is used to talk about sexual lust and its not in the context of masturbation but in the context of adultery. So we aren't to look at our neighbor's wife and covet her for she is our neighbor's wife. So we aren't to commit adultery or to covet her in our heart to take her away from her husband.
Anything beyond that I find to be the traditions of man and they desire to bring me into bondage with human rules rather than helping us to live in the freedom we have in Christ.
If not for lust, most of us would never have been conceived.
That would probably be a good thing.
__________________ -"We build everything in straight lines and rectangles and so on...whenever you see this sort of thing you know humans have been around because they're always trying to straighten things out. But nature itself is clouds, there's water, there's mountains, the outlines of continents, there's biological existences and all of them wiggle. And wiggly things...are to human consciousness a little bit of a nuisance, because we wanna figure it out." -"we operate on the assumption that clients have no idea what they are doing or talking about" -"Theosis is communion – the shared life of a never-ending community of deification where none resurrects alone."
Me and my friend got into a conversation the other night about lust. He stated that lust is anything regarding the desire for sex. For example, when you longingly look at a woman, mentally undress her, or masturbate, you are lusting for her.
What do you think?
A lot of people think that in this day and age that people just don't think this way but there are plenty that do. I'm not sure where the idea came from that all sexual desire is lust but it seems like many people have that belief. If you ask what lust is to 20 people you will more than likely get 20 different answers.
It should also be noted that one may have a positive, holy sexual desire for one's spouse.
"A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love."
[Pro. 5:19]
Indeed. But whereas lust is self-regarding, desiring only to satisfy itself, eros love is other-regarding, desiring to satisfy the other. That is why the one is a sin, and the other is not. One is selfish, the other selfless. Of course, in reality these are extremes on a spectrum, rather than exclusive alternatives.
Best, 2RM
__________________ Philosophy is questions that may never be answered: Religion is answers that may never be questioned.
Anon, quoted in 'Breaking the Spell', by Daniel Dennet.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
i have often debated with myself the issues that are presented in this thread and have found that when it comes down to it i must compare my thoughts with the verse posted above. if my thoughts/desires do not match up with any of the above criterion then i must put them aside and think on something else. let me tell you, it works and if ever i must question if i think something is wrong then likely it is (at least as far as my own conscience is concerned). if i look around in various places to answer a question and can't find a satisfactor answer, then i go with my conscience; and sometimes, my search for an answer to whether something is a sin or not is really just a search for an excuse to continue in that sin with my conscience on silent mode. consider these things next time you think you are lusting. note also that lust can disguise itself as a love for beauty as i know from experience.
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