the "L" word.

If you're a Christian, you've probably heard the "L" word more times than you can count. The world I'm talking about is lust. Now, if you're a Christian female like me, when you've heard it, you've probably mentally checked out and thought something like, "Well when I see guys, I don't undress them with my eyes and imagine having sex with them, so I don't need to worry about this." I can't even count the times I've thought that exact thing. But what about when we go on Facebook and see an attractive guy and proceed to look through ALL of his pictures, as well as the one's he's been tagged in? What do we call that? Granted, we probably don't imagine having sex with these guys, but aren't we still allowing our minds to wander? What's the point of looking at atrractive guys? Is our goal to honor God or to satisfy the physical cravings we have? I'd say it's the latter. Just because we're not "sexually wired" like guys are does not mean that we are not wired sexually. We have been made by God to be sexual beings, but the Fall has us playing with fire. Although we are females, we still have sexual temptation, even if it's something like staring at guys on Facebook. We also need to guard ourselves from letting our eyes and minds wander.

Another thing I'd like to bring up is that lust is not just a sexual thing. Yes, lust can be an "intense sexual desire or appetite", but it can also be a "passionate or overmastering desire or craving" (dictionary.com). The second definition could be used to talk about money or power, etc. Now, if you read the second definition, it probably reminds you of how the Bible says we should seek God, but I don't think we'd refer to it as a lust. Lust usually has bad connotations. Girls: Perhaps you don't struggle with letting your eyes wander when you see attractive guys, but may you let your hearts go astray. It is SO easy to get wrapped up in wanting a boyfriend, that you may not even realize that your relationship with God is simultaneously getting bumped down on your list of priorities. This is a form of lust. Every single movie you see has some kind of a romantic story in it, even if it's a movie about transformers taking over the world. Why is that? Because that's what people want in the core of their being- a lover. Well guess what? The Lover of our souls seems to have been drawn into this petty competition with the world. There shouldn't even have to be a competition! Nothing on earth could possibly compete with the majesty and love of God! And yet we've allowed things to come to that. Let us ask the Lord to renew our minds and reestablish His place in our lives. God wants to woo your soul, but are you letting yourself fall in love with him? Or are you too busy looking for love elsewhere? God promises to give us the desires of our heart if we seek him, but we must remember that he is the one who created those desires. Let's trust him to work it all out.