As I was launching this website, a friend with a lot of expertise in this area advised me to fish around for a better name than Overcoming Lust.
She thought that Overcoming Lust was too in-your-face and unimaginative. It did not resonate or create an emotional response. She was likely correct. Others who write about this subject have come up with cool, thought-provoking names like Living True Ministries, Every Man’s Battle and Setting Captives Free.
Along that line, I considered More than Conquerors and Create a Clean Heart. Each have merit. No doubt there are far better ideas. I admit that I am not into marketing. I don’t like to beat around the bush and the choice of the title Overcoming Lust reflects that.
I would, however, if starting over, consider the name Lust for Dummies. Here is why: The message that I am hammering away at is not rocket science. In fact once you get it, it seems rather obvious. I see myself as one of the four starving lepers in Samaria, who stumbled on a feast and a fortune and realized that they needed to share their good news with others (2 Kings 7:9). Christians are starving and diseased because of lust even though the answer is right in front of them. I am eager to share my little, rather clear-cut insights about lust with the many who are stumbling around just as I was. I am here to give you hope, but it is a blunt message—you can and must beat this thing.
I don’t pretend to know how to solve all the other problems you may face—things like how to straighten out your marriage or making right all the wrongs you may have caused. I can’t write warm devotionals or hold your hand as you pursue deeper sanctification. I am not a touchy feely kind of guy.
However, I do know that if you are having trouble in those areas and are also unable to effectively overcome lust in your life, you had better wise up. Dealing with this sin and overcoming it needs to be your first priority. Trying to build a great marriage or a sterling Christian walk with that monkey on your back simply won’t work.
So here, again, is the message. You must stop using your eyes to feed your lustful heart. You need to put the brakes on your thoughts and desires and recoil from this destructive sin. If you are a confirmed slave to lust, this will not be easy. Your heart is used to getting every possible, little “harmless” pleasure buzz it can squeeze out of life. Stop doing it. This message is from Jesus. It is His commandment and you would be wise to obey it. Abide in Christ and obey him. Read here and here for an introduction to this way of looking at lust if this is new to you.
Jesus called those who heard what He had to say but didn’t obey dummies—“foolish,” actually. He compared this kind of a dummy to the guy who built his house on top of sand (Matthew 7:24-29). It may have been an elaborate, wonderful house but he was going about it like a dummy. Perhaps the book Building Your Home for Dummies was written for that kind of builder. Are you acting like a dummy when it comes to lust? Don’t be a dummy.
Please add comments below. See comment policy.
