What exactly is Lust?

[Doctrine1st]

and how does it play in light of our innate function to procreate?

 

[tkster]

Lust is attraction taken too far outside of marriage.

take care,
tk

 

[transientlife]

I'd say lust is purely and exclusively physical and sexual attraction (whether under self-control or not) - which I guess would fit the idea of innate desire to procreate. If you want to reduce to base instincts.
Lust is not love, love is formed over variable amounts of time.
And if you want the Christian definition, you could go with tkster on this one and say lust is any affection/attraction acted upon outside the confines and institution of marriage.

 

[Doctrine1st]

Lust is attraction taken too far outside of marriage.

take care,
tk

I'd say lust is purely and exclusively physical and sexual attraction (whether under self-control or not) - which I guess would fit the idea of innate desire to procreate. If you want to reduce to base instincts.
Lust is not love, love is formed over variable amounts of time.
And if you want the Christian definition, you could go with tkster on this one and say lust is any affection/attraction acted upon outside the confines and institution of marriage.

I think if fact it is a basic instinct without or without the act of marriage. What about in the era before the act of marriage? What kept us going as a species?

 

[transientlife]

A whole lotta procreation, with or without lust.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Lust names a vice. It is not the desire to have sex, but rather a weakness of character that allows one a willness to have sex when one's better judgment would have one do otherwise.

 

[Doctrine1st]

Lust names a vice. It is not the desire to have sex, but rather a weakness of character that allows one a willness to have sex when one's better judgment would have one do otherwise.

So lust is having sex when one shouldn't?
Why did God make sex, along with hunger one of our strongest human drives? There is a good reason for both of them.

 

[MKalashnikov]

Webster's 1828 Dictionary of American English:

Lust
LUST, n.

1. Longing desire; eagerness to possess or enjoy; as the lust of gain.

My lust shall be satisfied upon them. Exo 15.

2. Concupiscence; carnal appetite; unlawful desire of carnal pleasure. Rom 1. 2 Pet 2.

3. Evil propensity; depraved affections and desires. James 1. Psa 81.

4. Vigor; active power. [Not used.]

 

[fragmentsofdreams]

and how does it play in light of our innate function to procreate?

Lust is viewing a person as an object to satisfy some desire rather than a person. Lust can exist inside of marriage.

 

[fragmentsofdreams]

I'd say lust is purely and exclusively physical and sexual attraction (whether under self-control or not) - which I guess would fit the idea of innate desire to procreate. If you want to reduce to base instincts.
Lust is not love, love is formed over variable amounts of time.
And if you want the Christian definition, you could go with tkster on this one and say lust is any affection/attraction acted upon outside the confines and institution of marriage.

I think equation lust with sexual attraction is dangerous. Because people know sexual attraction is often sinless, they begin to think that lust is not bad and are not worried about actual lust.

 

[fragmentsofdreams]

So lust is having sex when one shouldn't?
Why did God make sex, along with hunger one of our strongest human drives? There is a good reason for both of them.

Lust is to sexual desire what gluttony is to hunger. Sex and food are good things that can be used badly.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Lust is to sexual desire what gluttony is to hunger. Sex and food are good things that can be used badly.

Precisely.

 

[Blissman]

Attraction towards the opposite sex is a normal instinct, and not a sin. You have to recognize that there must be a desire to procreate, and pleasure is one of the rewards for that desire. Being tempted is not a sin, temptation is normal. God gave us temptation so that we may seek others so we may procreate. Since we do not marry the first person that we see or date, and we are tempted in to having sex (and hence procreate), lust is not tempation.
Neither would the urge to have sex (both in and out of marriage), nor is the admiration of beauty, nor the 'sizing up' of a stranger for the suitibility of having sex, companionship, and a confidant.
Lust would be an unhealthy compulsion about sex. This asks a second question. In teens and in people 20-30 (or so), hormones which affect the level of time spent in this is higher than in most your later years (with the exception of pregnancy - pregnant women are more attractive than women who are not pregnant). Is the increased interest in sex in by youth lust, or is normal? Consider that this is driven by hormones and God gives us more hormones at this age, it may not be lust to be seemingly overwhealmed for teens and young adults to have a greater interest in copulating than in other ages. (Then too, what about the loss of a husband/wife?)
'Lust' in marriage is not a sin. You are supposed to desire your wife/husband.

Noticing someone else is not a sin, in or out of marriage. Perhaps for a marriage, lust may be a longing to have sex with someone else beyond noticing. Defining what is and is not lust is more complicated for people who are not yet married. Perhaps lust applies only to those who are married (or to someone seeking someone whom is).

This definition changes with your society (and with the times in which you live). If you live in a society (or in a era) where marriages are arranged and there is no dating, than this would be different.

 

[fashionably_lonely]

Very well summarized Blissman. Thank you.

 

[Doctrine1st]

Lust is to sexual desire what gluttony is to hunger. Sex and food are good things that can be used badly.

So it's an excessive desire for sex, at what point does it become excessive?

Is it like an addiction where if it gets in the way of normal life tasks and becomes a problem is that the criterion?

 

[Doctrine1st]

Attraction towards the opposite sex is a normal instinct, and not a sin. You have to recognize that there must be a desire to procreate, and pleasure is one of the rewards for that desire. Being tempted is not a sin, temptation is normal. God gave us temptation so that we may seek others so we may procreate. Since we do not marry the first person that we see or date, and we are tempted in to having sex (and hence procreate), lust is not tempation.
Neither would the urge to have sex (both in and out of marriage), nor is the admiration of beauty, nor the 'sizing up' of a stranger for the suitibility of having sex, companionship, and a confidant.
Lust would be an unhealthy compulsion about sex. This asks a second question. In teens and in people 20-30 (or so), hormones which affect the level of time spent in this is higher than in most your later years (with the exception of pregnancy - pregnant women are more attractive than women who are not pregnant). Is the increased interest in sex in by youth lust, or is normal? Consider that this is driven by hormones and God gives us more hormones at this age, it may not be lust to be seemingly overwhealmed for teens and young adults to have a greater interest in copulating than in other ages. (Then too, what about the loss of a husband/wife?)
'Lust' in marriage is not a sin. You are supposed to desire your wife/husband.

Noticing someone else is not a sin, in or out of marriage. Perhaps for a marriage, lust may be a longing to have sex with someone else beyond noticing. Defining what is and is not lust is more complicated for people who are not yet married. Perhaps lust applies only to those who are married (or to someone seeking someone whom is).

This definition changes with your society (and with the times in which you live). If you live in a society (or in a era) where marriages are arranged and there is no dating, than this would be different.

I concur.

God has instilled such a strong sex drive at youthful ages for a reason. This is the best opportuned stage in life to bring in a healthy being into the world. I think Lust as a sin is a pretty suspect position seeing that it is all pretty much innate.

 

[fragmentsofdreams]

So it's an excessive desire for sex, at what point does it become excessive?

Is it like an addiction where if it gets in the way of normal life tasks and becomes a problem is that the criterion?

I wouldn't extend my analogy that far as to confine lust to excessive desire. It was merely meant to show that a natural desire can be distorted.