Lust In Real Life
A Case Study: King David
2 Samuel 11:1-5
“... nobody gets fat overnight. It’s one pizza after another, one ice cream cone after another. And you hardly notice it until one of your children comes up, pokes you in the stomach and says, “Dad, you’ve got a big belly. The same with immorality – it begins with little things, little attitudes, little habits and if you don’t crucify them – and if you don’t face up to them for what they are – SIN – they can destroy you. They can blur your moral judgment at a critical, irreversible juncture in life.”
Evangelist Luis Palau in Heart After God
“Feeding sexual passion (or any misdirected love, desire, or passion) does not cure the problem. Sexual passion is not like hunger, so that when you feed it, it goes away. It’s like a fire: the more you feed it, the more it rages. The solution, therefore, is not indulgence, but rather, learning to flee and to obey God.”
Steven Cole
The downhill descent . . .
Step # 1: David let his guard down – 11:1
“If he had been at the front, he wouldn’t have been on the wall. When we are out of the way of duty, we are in the way of temptation.”
Matthew Henry
Step # 2: David’s glance turned into a gaze – 11:2
You cannot avoid the temptation but you can avoid the sin.
If you linger – you will lust.
If you do not flee, you will fall.
“Flee immorality!”
1 Corinthian 6:18
“Flee youthful lusts.”
2 Timothy 2:22
Step # 3: David asked a question he had no business asking – 11:3
Step # 4: David sought something that wasn’t his to have – 11:4
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
James 1:14-15
Step # 5: David did something he never should have done – 11:5
Two crucial observations . . .
- Recognize you are vulnerable.
“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
1 Corinthians 10:12
- The punishment far outweighed the pleasure of adultery.
Six decisions every believer must make every day . . .
- I will avoid lust-producing situations.
- In your personal daily life – there must be limits.
- In your relational life – there must be limits.
- I will dress thoughtfully.
- I will think consequences.
- I will choose purity.
- I will come clean with others.
- I will think about Jesus – a lot!
“Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Psalm 51:7
“A man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory.”
1 Corinthians 11:7 (NLT)
You are not an animal – you reflect the glory of God.
You are not a pervert – you reflect the glory of God.
You are not an addict – you reflect the glory of God.
You are not a victim – you reflect the glory of God.
You are not a fool – you reflect the glory of God.
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.”
Titus 2:11-12