Men were created to protect. We were created to stand against one thing and to stand for something. When you are in a protective posture, you behave in a way that support this.
In battle, you put on your gear, carry your weapons, fight and/or capture the enemy to protect freedom. If you were to look solely at your behavior, would it show you are protecting lust? Would you see you are lying about your behaviors; hiding behaviors, maintaining secret passwords, codes or hiding places, or having special times to lust? Or would it show you are protecting yourself and your family? In other words, would you see you are honest about lusting; practice accountability; hold no secret passwords, codes, cell phones, e-mail address or Facebook profiles; have a porn blocker on your computer, phone and tablet?
As a protector, you can look at your own behavior to see who is being protected more. Of course, whoever or whatever you love more you will protect more. So take a moment and honestly assess who gets more of your protection—lust or those you love?
Once you know what you really are protecting, you can make necessary changes to start protecting those you love rather than lust.
Lust wants you to believe a very simple lie. If you believe this lie, it works like fertilizer on lust’s plan to trap you in its grip for endless demands. The lie is simple: “Your thoughts are your domain.”
You’re allowed to think what you want, how you want, and about anyone you want. Fantasy is all right as long as you keep it only in your mind; and of course, nobody will ever know your thoughts.
God knows our thoughts. I think He not only knows them, but He ultimately evaluates them. If you think your thoughts are your domain and that God cannot see, hear or judge them, you will be tempted to keep lust in your life as much as you want.
You can see how sneaky this little lie is. Unchecked, it can create havoc in your heart and life, and give lust time to mature to sin and death. If you believe God knows your thoughts, and you truly fear God and rebuke these ungodly lust thoughts, they cannot grow, cannot get a hold of you, and you will repent. This devastates lust’s plans altogether. Believe the truth that God knows your thoughts and make Him proud.
Lust wants to hear “well done” for bringing you to your knees. Lust longs for the day when your life is being reviewed. Lust loves when its character is on the screen of your soul’s movie. Lust loves to watch your soul slavishly obey it, and delights in watching you lust after women, become sexually inappropriate, fornicate or commit adultery. Lust loves to see its influence on a man’s life and to hear the words “well done.”
You long in your spirit to hear Jesus tell you, “Well done.” You long to see Jesus as a real person directing and blessing your life. You want to feel His pride for you.
Living a lust-free life and destroying lust both now and in the future can help you move toward hearing Jesus say, “Well done.” {eoa}
Doug Weiss, Ph.D., is a nationally known author, speaker and licensed psychologist. He is the executive director of Heart to Heart Counseling Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the author of several books including, Lust Free Living. You may contact Dr. Weiss via his website, drdougweiss.com or on his Facebook or by phone at 719-278-3708 or through email at [email protected].
