Anne Fortier, the Danish-Canadian writer once remarked: “There is lust and then there is love. They are related, but still very different things. To indulge in one requires little but honeyed speech and a change of clothes; to obtain the other, by contrast, a man must give up his rib. In return, his woman will undo the sin of Eve, and bring him back into Paradise.” 1 Corinthians 6:13 states: “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food” - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”
Lust probably stems right back to the original story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden which portrays the initial sins of mankind. It is the first narrative of a relationship, a loving human relationship, between a man and a woman which is recounted in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. The love for someone is not a sin in itself, the sin is only perpetrated when one treats the other with lustful desire, without the due respect and dignity that they deserve. In effect, they are being used for the wrongful purpose of gratification and only that. It is, in effect, a denial of God’s gift of companionship. 1 Corinthians 6:18 states: “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” The notions of a lustful person differ from those who simply seek true love. Fervour abounds within them. Respect is not forthcoming, neither is appreciation. The truth is, that the true feelings of love are forgotten. The partner is not treated as a companion of love but merely fodder for desire. Galatians 5:16 states: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."
The dissimilarity between love and lust is quite distinctive. Lust is listed as one of the seven deadly sins. It can be regarded, not only as immoral but as a confused state of mind. The sexual desires of the body predominate the rational thoughts of decency in the mind. It could be related to the identical symptoms encountered when one takes illegal hard drugs such as LSD or Cocaine. It can make the user see things that only exist in their own mind. These symptoms are usually self-generated from within the body. The mind does not think clearly as the effects of the drugs can cause hallucinations. You only see the person, that you are looking at, as you ideally want them to be and not as they really are. Love is defined as deep affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth and compassion for another, to name but a few examples. In John 13:34-35, Jesus states: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Conversely, Matthew 5:28 states: "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
In the United Kingdom, there is a long-standing popular meeting place for friends and family in the London area which is located underneath the main clock in Waterloo Railway Station. This clock is also commemorable as a “First Date” venue. It is often used by dating agencies as an initial meeting point and has been used in several scenes in romantic movies.
There was once a lascivious young man who found it difficult to retain female relationships due to his licentious nature.
In general, he could be considered quite a boring character who was not particularly communicative, because of this, he found it difficult to attract women. He also discovered that most women who had shown an initial interest in him tended to finish with him after a short period of time. This was largely due to the fact that he was often considered too eager to reveal his inner desires and emotions of love and passion which produced a negative effect on the outcome of any relationship.
He lacked the necessary patience, diplomacy and respect for letting the course of nature evolve naturally over a period of time as people get to know one another better. On occasions, he could, unfortunately, be likened to a bull in a china shop. Because of this difficulty, and the often resulting deprivation encountered, he resorted to a lustful lifestyle where every day, after he had finished work, he would stand near a photo booth in the vicinity of the clock with a panoramic view of the station. From here, he could closely monitor and watch girls waiting for their prospective partners, hopefully without being noticed, with the possible expectation that romance may also eventually come his way. In effect, he had become a secretive peeping-tom. In preparation for his visit to the railway station, he would always take care to spruce himself up by bathing, shaving and dressing in his best clothes after applying generous amounts of eau de cologne to give himself the best chance of striking the right chord with the girl of his choice. He would then earnestly practice his limited opening greeting in various languages in front of his mirror and took a few phrase-books along with him as a backup.
His main problem was that his inner emotions had, over time, become extremely erratic and often irrational due to a lack of a non-lasting and irregular fruitful relationship. Although lust is not considered, in a technical sense, an emotion, it does, however, contain many attributes that are directly linked to everyday emotions. He would often misread the courteous intentions or responses of others as the green light to charge forward without restraint as it often caused him inner excitement, happiness, and joy, together with the intense anticipation of a possible coitus experience.
He had been bewildered for some time as to the reason why he was unable to attract a girlfriend, especially as he was not restricted to any particular nationality. As his body consistently burned with desire, he felt the need to find the right person as soon as possible for a flourishing relationship. With this in mind, if the girl’s date didn’t show for any reason, he would pluck up the courage to approach her and ask if she was alright and could he help in any way? He would then inform her that she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. This was usually his typical opening move, just like in a game of chess, unfortunately just like chess, the initial moves often determine the final outcome of the game. He was frequently rebuffed for this approach, as being too forward, and often went home feeling rejected and depressed. His zeal for love and affection cost him dearly in both friendship and romance. On subsequent reflection, he ascertained that he needed to take a step back and re-examine his approach to life. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 confirms: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.”
Amen.
