The Basics Of Sexuality

Sexual desire is a symptom of our desire for God.

Dang. Darrell's take really did make me think about what it means to be struggling with and falling to lustful desires. The way DJ puts it, "If I am having trouble with lust, it means I am not enjoying God and have not enjoyed him in a long time". All those times when I struggle, it's because I'm lonely. I've wandered away from God, and in the void it's yet another idol I put in his place. I've had troubles with lust more than a few times in my life, and while I can offer no excuses for any single time, it was at its worst when I pretty much tried to put God out of my life during freshman year. It was no coincidence...it really was a constant feeling of emptiness. And I wanted fulfillment. Just as love is patient, lust is impatient, seeking a short term, fast solution that never endures. It was like drinking sea water, really...if you're stuck on a boat and haven't had fresh water for long enough, you get desperate and drink the closest thing available, even if it only hastens death.

I want to perhaps reshape the domino theory put forward by the doctor later in the sermon. Sure, in his theory, it starts off with lustful stimulation of some kind....but if I'm getting into stuff that's putting me at risk with lustful stimulation, it means I'm not fleeing morality as I should. What's not causing me to not flee morality? Because I am seeking comfort in something other in God. Why am I doing so? Because I have chosen to not enjoy God for a long time, and have mistaken my need for fulfillment in him for fulfillment in something else: I have forgotten the source.

Psalms 34:8 "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him" It's taken on yet another dimension of meaning for me now that I've heard this sermon. No fulfillment of any other desire can possibly satisfy me the same way, especially if it's but a symbol of a greater need. It was only after I realized this that I had any hope of getting better. I'm still in the process of doing so.


It makes sense why God would want us to date and then eventually marry someone who is running the same path towards God and with whom you can mutually better nurture a relationship with Him. If sexual desire is the symptom of a longing for God, then there's no better occasion to express it than through constant consummation of a marriage, the holy union God has willed! If done right, sex within marriage becomes another means of coming closer to God!

God has given a GREAT deal; one that society of today tries to stifle and warp. But as always, if we keep our eyes on finishing the race, on the prize that is eternal relationship with God, the hardship of keeping discipline only turns into good.

Lust is not patient. Lust is not kind
Lust is jealous, boastful, proud, rude, and selfish,
easily angered and keeps a record of wrongs.
Lust gloats over other people's sins and does not rejoice in the truth.
Lust bears little, never trusts, never hopes, never endures.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.