The Big Race

The Power to Run

What if I really do not want to give up my lusts?

Not many people can get honest enough to ask the question, "What if I really do not want to give up my lusts?" It is hard to be real. Understanding our lives is a most difficult task. The desires to sin, to lust after women,, to look at pornography, etc. are rather common. But I even within this spectrum, there is much room for confusion. Some of us have these desires but also have conflicting desires. Let's think about this question a bit more.

These desires are strong.
For some of you, these desires might be a great passion in your life. And because it plays such a great part of your life, it seems like it might be your greatest desire– you are obsessed. Sometimes you might be very comfortable with this life, other times you are a bit scared. This willingness to exploit others to fulfill your own lusts is the natural you. The Bible calls it the flesh or old nature; it is self-motivated. This is opposite to God's nature of love - other oriented. Being able to recognize this self-oriented nature in our lives is an important step of life. I applaud you if you can see this nature in yourself. It is not rare! We are all born with it. But we don't equally see it!

But aren't these desires natural?
One of the confusing thoughts that have crossed our land is the 'natural is beautiful' philosophy. They confidently proclaim that if it natural, then it is beautiful. Their thoughts go like this, "If these desires are part of us when born and because of this shape our lives, then what could be wrong with it?" The problem is that they have accepted the philosophy without first examining the truth of it. Their assumption that natural is beautiful just cannot be backed up by facts and figures. If we accept the restrained forms of lusts, why is the unrestrained forms unacceptable? Lusts are lusts. But we know that lusts lead to all sorts of sordid acts which violate the rights of others.

Views	Approach to life	Practice	Results
Popular natural philosophy	Anything natural is good. These inherent desires and ways of man are important to encourage because they bring out the best.	Anything natural is beautiful	Sinful lusts are encouraged
God in the scriptures	God said that man has fallen. The best is not represented by what is natural. What is inherent might be the exact opposite of what is good and beautiful.	God's designs are good and beautiful	Caring for others is encouraged

Is nudity wrong?
We can agree that lusts are natural, that is, they are an inherent part of us when born. But that does not mean they are natural, that is, the normal and good way of life. Man was clothed with glory before sin, but this glorious covering of light was stripped away when they sinned. They sought covering. Nakedness was not normal. What was normal? Normal was when they had the true covering of God. A substitute was leaves, skins, or what we use today - fabric in clothes. Nudity exposes ourselves and others to temptation. The scriptures regularly call us to dress modestly and not to attract other eyes to our bodies.

Natural should be defined as the state when everything is conformed to the will and purpose of God. Practically, that means when I purposely observe a person dressed in such a way to entertain my sensual curiosity, those thoughts and feelings are impure or unnatural. We should not dress in front of others nor should families sit stripped in a hot tub together.

Why don't we lust more?
A sign that lustful desires are not part of our natural gifting is that society commonly establishes laws and standards to protect themselves from their free expression. For example, in most places their are nudity , sodomy, marriage, divorce and incest laws. When society is strong, the culture and society protect the best interests of the people. Parents generally would want their children to have good marriages and families – this is natural. Legal laws develop from moral laws which are embedded in the conscience of man. Man knows certain behaviors are wrong and therefore make them illegal. Laws are needed because every wrong behavior causes bad consequences.

These laws and things like parental expectations, peer pressure, etc. restrain the evil expressions of our sexual lusts. If our lustful desires were not at all restrained by law, opportunity, peer pressure, money, insecurity or time, then we would see a great increase in these activities. Since the world culture is no longer penalizing many acts of sodomy, divorce, fornication, adultery, pornography, etc., we now see an explosion of sexual sins being committed. Our society is falling apart because the consequences to this evil behavior is taking its toll on our society's infrastructure. Crime rates, abandoned for children, STD, AIDS, etc. Health companies are now beginning to stop operations in certain 'unprofitable' areas.

What happens if you continue to follow your lustful desires?
If you find that you do not want to change, you are facing four horrible ends:

• You will suffer through this life with your cheap inferior 'love.' Nothing will provide lasting pleasure and security. How many real friends do you have?
• You will suffer the consequences of broken relationships, financial costs, health problems, etc.
• You will miss out on knowing and living out the tremendous love of God in this life and the next.
• You will end up in hell's fire forever and ever. This lake of fire is prepared for those who do not repent. God has started His judgment but the fullness of it is still coming.
  

If you have these desires but want to overcome them, continue on.

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