Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The Other Half of the Lust Problem

Ephesians 5:3 (NIV) - "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."

Most people read the above verse and think "men really need to stop lusting and viewing pornography." There's a problem with that statement; men aren't the only ones. I don't know the exact statistics, but I do know that more and more women are engaging in the viewing of pornography; and so many people are ignoring this.

Why is it that when I look at my Instagram or Facebook feed I see hundreds of 'man crush monday's' that nobody has a problem with. Women (teens and adults alike) are posting pictures of half-naked men as their 'man-crush' without even a slight pushback from their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let me be clear: I am NOT for a second ignoring the fact that men have a massive problem with lust and do the same things and more than women do. What I AM saying is that the Church must stop ignoring the fact that millions of women are drowning in a sea of lust without anyone trying to help them through it.

Everyone seems to be calling for modesty in women and for men to find help with their porn addiction. But nobody is calling out to the women of the church to "flee sexual immorality" (1 Corinthians 6:18). This is a serious problem because women have become numb to this sin and it is destroying their relationship with Jesus. The hardest part is, they don't seem to notice.


It's like they don't even see their posts as lustful or their thoughts as adulterous at all. I know that this is not just a man's thoughts on the issue because I have had a few women express their concern on this as well. Our "Christian culture" has accepted the lie that men lust and women don't. Oh we say that we know women struggle with lust, but we don't battle the issue or provide any correction or accountability for them. I know that women don't struggle with the same 'expressions' of lust as men do, but lust is lust and it's sin that Jesus died to free us from!

Women fantasize what their lives would be like if they were in a relationship with certain celebrities, have conversations with their friends about how 'hot' certain guys are, and some even are engaged in full-on pornography. How are we okay with this? If Ephesians 5:3 says that there shouldn't even be a 'hint' of sexual immorality (depending on the translation), then we have to do something about this.

If we only address men for their lust, we are missing half of the problem. Let us be more aware of this and being to "Abstain from the passions of the flesh" (2 Peter 2:11). I think our churches and the body of Christ are struggling more than we realize because of this overlooked sin in our congregations.

Philippians 4:8 - "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

For more on this subject, check out this article - http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2014/01/08/when-women-lust/

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