Love/Lust

Love and lust are realities that are drastically different, yet often confused. What they have in common is the component of desire; desire can either take the form of love or lust. The distinction is in the outcome: lust perverts the purpose of its object by using it as a means of self-gratification. Love perfects the purpose of its object by restoring its dignity and recognizing its sanctity.

All things were created by God for his sheer enjoyment. This is why God takes a break on the 7th day; not out of exhaustion, but out of enjoyment! God looks upon all that his hands have made and declares it to be good, very good. God desires to enjoy his creation through the enjoyment of man, therefore he blesses people with good things, which he gives them freely to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17). In man's free enjoyment of God's good creation, God himself rejoices in his creation. This is why we should never be afraid to enjoy what God has given us. He blesses us to be blessed and to be a blessing. But too many believers feel guilty receiving God's blessings, or try to limit God's blessings over their lives out of a desire to make sacrifices for the kingdom of God. Making sacrifices for the kingdom of God is a good thing when those sacrifices have been mandated by the kingdom of God. In other words, when you are sacrificing what God has given you to enjoy it is not godly at all! Likewise, it is not godly for you to enjoy what God has given you to sacrifice! Discernment is required to know the difference, and that discernment comes through the spirit of sonship and submission so that we may learn to offer right sacrifices, and not religious sacrifices, to God through Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us that lust causes corruption and decay (2 Peter 1.4). Lust breaks things down by separating them from their created purpose. Ultimately all things were created for God's enjoyment and God has determined to use the enjoyment of man as a vehicle for his own enjoyment. Lust perverts the purpose of things by cutting them off from God's enjoyment. When a man engages in a form of enjoyment that God will have no part of that man is engaging in lust. Lust robs its object of God's enjoyment, and therefore lust is idolatrous! It replaces divine enjoyment with self-gratification, and in the absence of divine enjoyment things begin to break down and decay. Thus, lust is the vehicle through which Satan perverts God's good creation by cutting it off from God's enjoyment. Satan wants to destroy God's creation, and he wants to use you and me as his vehicles! If we harbor lust we join his program of destruction!

Love, on the other hand, restores things to their created purpose by covering sin, casting out fear, and cultivating faith. Love comes from God, it is his gift and the central attribute of his being. Love is patient and kind, it does not boast, it is not easily provoked, it keeps no record of wrongs, it does not rejoice in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. This is why love never fails! Its no wonder John said the one who loves is born of God and knows God! Love never takes an object as a source of personal enjoyment in isolation from God, but love seeks to reconnect people and things to God's enjoyment. When you are being truly loved you will feel it coming from two sources simultaneously: from the person giving it to you, and from God. When you are truly loving you will feel like a channel of God's love, as if his love were just flowing through you and you had no love of your own. If we keep these truths in mind we will intentionally partner with God in restoring people to their created purpose by bringing them into the flow of God's supernatural, eternal and unconditional love!