Temptation to lust is usually rooted in the deeper temptation to deal with life’s pain and discomfort on our own terms rather than with God. This is true not only with lust but with many addictive habits. In fact, many addiction recovery groups use the acronym HALT, which stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired, because those feelings are some of the most common feelings accompanying times of...
Lust and the Search for Worth
I wrote in my last blog that it’s not just biological instinct that draws us to the naked body, but that nakedness draws us because it speaks profoundly to our deep longing for relational intimacy—to know and be known. For those who struggle with lust, this illumines a pathway not just away from the false intimacy of sexual sin but toward something better for which you’re really longing:...
Images of Intimacy
If you struggle with lust, consider this for a moment: Can you explain why you are drawn to the form of a woman or the form of a man? Beyond the specifics of what part of the body titillates you sexually, have you ever considered why it titillates you? Why does your body stir at the sight of another’s body? Is it a learned response because your body knows the pleasure that awaits if you engage in...
Distant
Despite how technology can bring us together, the physical distance between where you are and where someone else is a big deal. Friends who text each other are different than friends who have dinner together. A video chat with family is different than a hug from your mom. And a long distance romance is different than holding hands or kissing. Distance impacts us. Jesus knows it. In Luke 15, he...
Guys, Snakes, and Ron Swanson
I think one of the biggest threats to guys today is the constant stream of faulty images of men that float around our cultural landscape compared to the scarcity of images of authentic masculine goodness and strength. The ancient proverb, “Without a vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18a) couldn’t be more relevant to men, young and old, who have never had a vision of good, godly masculinity...
Yes Sex
For anyone wanting to love well, learning to say ‘no’ to sexual urges is a must. Just as important, though, is learning to say ‘yes’. If you were to poll random people on the street what they think Christians believe about sex, I’d wager most people would begin with what they understand Christians are against. They’d bring up Christianity’s prohibition against sex before marriage, homosexual sex...