Many have read verses about lust to combat lust. Some have studied verses about lust to fight lust. But only a few fight lust exactly the way Jesus did. When Jesus was tempted He fought every temptation with a Bible verse. But… Jesus did not have any sin strongholds in his life so satan bounced from one temptation to the next. But that is not how he attacks us. Lust, more lust, then some more lust, maybe with a side dish of covetousness. When we are trying to break down a stronghold, one verse helps, two are better, but three are even better. Here are three that I really like: Matthew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Romans 6:16 ESV Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 2 Timothy 2:22 ESV So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Second, three are probably not enough, but Jesus had the verses memorized. Start by memorizing one and get to three as fast as possible. Then continue to add more. If you really know all of the verses about lust by heart you won’t think porn is stupid and destructive… you will know it. Matthew 6:22 completely opened my eyes. I always ended up trading in my great life filled with light and joy for short-term fun which led to darkness, and depression. The more I quoted this verse the more I knew what was really happening. The last few times I went back to porn I literally said: I am ruining my week and month. I am going back to darkness. I will have destruction. I was correct. That was what happened. What are the two or three verses you have used to fight back against lust? Please help me out by picking the ones from this list. I am trying to figure out which great verses about quitting are not on this list. If you have a verse specifically about lust that is not on the list please let me know so I can add it. Lastly, it is hard for us to exactly copy how Jesus lived. But, we certainly can copy His method for fighting temptation.
I really like those, too! Can't recall if I said it before, but huge congrats on 500+ days! An amazing achievement. Keep going, one day at a time.
Average statistics note that 25% of Catholics read the Bible at least once a week and 63% of Evangelical Protestants read the Bible at least once a week. So that leaves 75%, and 37% respectively who almost never read it. One key to quitting an addiction is to read at least one chapter from the New Testament "every day." Reading the Bible is hearing from God. Obeying what the Bible says is "loving God." Proverbs 6:25 ESV Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;" Consider praying: "Father, help me to fight my desire for sinful beauty, and help me to love Your Bible." If you don't read the Bible every day, consider setting an alarm on your phone and praying that prayer every hour until you start to understand how helpful Bible reading would be for you. Second, how do we follow this verse? First, with a total commitment to turn from lust if a beauty is not properly dressed. Additionally, with a commitment to desiring Godly beauty instead of worldly beauty. Consider praying: "Father, show me the beauty of doing things Your way." Finally, value reading the Bible, it is life-changing. Psalm 119:105 ESV Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Today my devotions were Matthew 4 where Jesus was tempted by satan. In this chapter, we see that Jesus needed to (For our example) fight back against satan with scripture 3 times. This tells us that when we fight back one time, that is just a start. Two times get us in the thick of the battle. With our third scripture verse, we should be starting to get somewhere. Obviously, when we are at home we can click on the verses for quitting, and recite 3 verses to fight back. But we also need a plan for when we are out and about. Consider writing down 3 verses about lust on a 3 by 5 card and carry it with you. Refer to it often until you have at least 3 verses memorized. These verses make it a fair fight, and if you keep adding even more verses to the battle, it becomes a full victory because your team is stronger than he is. Finally, prayer helps with temptation, 1 verse about lust puts us in the battle, 2 verses start us forward, and 3 verses are often enough to be winning the battle, but digging into multiple verses until temptation stops is a complete victory every time.
