Lust Is Also A Sin

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟏𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐀

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟒:𝟕-𝟏𝟓

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟔:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏, 𝟏𝟓-𝟏𝟖 “𝐓𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟓:𝟐𝟕-𝟑𝟐

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑩𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆.” (𝒗.27) 

         Today’s gospel passage should serve as a stern warning to everyone who have been promoting the idea that the time is now right for Philippine society to adopt what has in truth destroyed most of Western society – divorce – and this topic remains to be the subject of endless and at times heated debates in the halls of the country’s legislature.

         While there are many factors that guide the judicial courts in Western countries in the conduct of divorce cases filed before them, adultery has become one of the primary bases that is used in seeking favor from the courts in the grant of divorce to couples wanting to terminate their marriages.

         Many of us may go about our day-to-day business with confidence that the values that we grew up in are still being observed today. What we don't know is that many of these values had already been thrown out the window long ago such that what may have been taboo during our youth has somewhat become the culture of today’s society.

         But when we speak of adultery, there is a tendency to take it lightly and many of us think of adultery in terms of the actual act of either having an illicit affair or cohabiting with another who is not your spouse. We may not think of it as a serious offense, but it is in the eyes of God who placed adultery just below that of murder (𝑬𝒙𝒐 20:13-14).

         And in today’s gospel passage, Jesus Christ included lust as a sinful act that is on the same level as adultery. Perhaps, this passage is as timely as the current headlines in that there are many in today’s society also think of lust either in a passive sense or as an ordinary occurrence.

         Though lust is ordinarily used to refer to sexual desire, it also includes all other desires of the flesh and Christ equated lustful acts as a sin because lust is desiring something in a cunning and luring manner. Perhaps it would be a good idea if we try to find time to open our Bibles to 𝑳𝒆𝒗 20:10 that states in specific terms that God considers adultery as a capital offense that is worthy of the death penalty and God promised to judge those who commit adultery in 𝑯𝒆𝒃 13:4 𝒂𝒏𝒅 1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 6:9-10.

         St. Paul also lists several types of the sins of the flesh (𝑮𝒂𝒍 5:19-21) saying that those who practice such works will have no part in the Kingdom of God. We probably will ask why God is so particular about this sin of lust and adultery. It is because adultery destroys friendships, marriages, familial relationships and most especially it affects the lives and future of children whose parents are caught up in adulterous behavior.

         How then can we avoid or stay away from the sin of adultery? While flight or running away from such sins is a sure way of avoiding it, the Bible itself presents the solutions that can help man from the consuming desire for such things as sex, money, possessions, and fame.

         Even those who serve in a church or community are not immune to the sin of lust because desiring for positions and power are also considered a sin especially when the flesh is involved and it is in this area in which even Christian disciples falter.

         Christ in 𝑴𝒌 7:21-23 pointed out that the problem begins in the heart “𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏, 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔, 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒇𝒕, 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅, 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒕, 𝒍𝒆𝒘𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒚, 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒚. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏.”          

         When Jesus said: “𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚.” (𝒗.29), what he meant was that we need to take some radical decisions to get rid of that which causes us to sin. In as much as it requires taking action to increase our faith, so is turning away from sin. Prayer helps and by some mysterious action the Holy Spirit will provide us the strength and endurance to avoid sin but we need to cooperate with the Spirit of God by taking drastic action to avoid temptation that leads to sin. 

         As sin is to the soul as cancer is to the body, God expects us to perform radical surgery to treat the cancer of sin by cutting off the things that lead us to look at the opposite sex with lust and diverting our thoughts to absorbing “𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 – 𝒊𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒚 – 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒔.” (𝑷𝒉𝒊 4:8)       

         We may not know it but books, movies, DVDs, magazines that contain pornographic materials encourage us to sin. To stretch this situation even further, even friends, co-workers, associates, can become steppingstones that may lead us to sin especially if they encourage or influence us to situations that are sinful: “𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒅: ‘𝑩𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓.” (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 15:33)       

         So again, we ask how then can we avoid sin? Run for crying out loud run! “𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚.” (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 6:18) for the simple reason that our body is the “𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 6:19)        

         What we should remember is that there is hope for those who give in to lustful desires and even for those who find themselves in adulterous situations and that hope for salvation lies in God alone. With God’s help, anyone who sins can still rise above their desires that have consumed them. As Christ rebuilt his Temple in three days, we can also hope that God will also rebuild the Temple of the Holy Spirit in us but only if we will humble ourselves and come to him in prayer and repentance.

         Bear in mind that human nature is atoned for and forgiven. We should, for all intents and purposes, ask God for the gift of temperance and self-control so that anyone who is weak in this area of lustful desires can acquire control of this sin.

         Since Christ included divorce in today’s gospel passage, allow me to end with this quote from 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘑. 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘯: “𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦; 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩𝘴; 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳: 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 13, 2025)