Lust in my heart??

[Shy Tall Guy]

This issue keeps coming up for those of on the BB who admit to being Christians; how do we reconcile our religious beliefs with our sexuality and with our presence here?

I understand why people continually bring this up: Christian churches (not the physical building, but the religious organizations) and self-appointed leaders have used our sexual desires as a source of guilt to manipulate people, and some Christians can be very offensive by being judgemental, especially about sexual differences. So others who have suffered at the hands of these people see a chance to even the score. Or sometimes others, often quite rightfully so, see Christians as holding themselves up as better than others around them, and again see this as a chance to pull them down from their pedestal. Or maybe they are just curious.

I can understand curiosity - I am curious myself, but I tire of people assuming I am a judgemental hypocrite who thinks myself better than them, just because I have the temerity to admit, on an erotica BB, that I am a Christian.

So, rather than having to repeat myself every other month, I am going to express here, in one thread, how I reconcile my Christianity with my sexuality, and with my presence here on Literotica. I will do this in multiple posts so it won’t be in one big long unreadable post. Feel free to comment and ask questions, but try not to be judgemental yourself, and be open minded; do not assume.

First, I believe God created humans as sexual creatures. How specifically God created the human race, either by creating modern man a few thousand years ago, by genetically tinkering with his creation at certain points in time to produce an evolutionary tract that produced modern man, or started the universe from nothing and knowing that it would all evolve according to some master plan, is unimportant for the purposes of this conversation; all but those prudish Christians who wear blinders and are in complete denial will admit that humans are and were intended to be sexual creatures, and that our sexuality is not a perversion of nature. If you are foolish enough to wish to argue this point feel free, but I will assume no one here is that silly.

As such, I also believe that, in general, men and women are different sexually; specifically in how they view and approach sex. Either way, both sexes experience sexual attraction and sexual desires as a normal aspect of human nature. There is nothing inherently evil, perverted or immoral about experiencing sexual attraction to another human, or experiencing sexual desires; that is the way the human body is designed.

While some Christians will argue that any sexual desire is lust, lust is defined as a "usually intense or unbridled sexual desire". This definition indicates an amount or degree ("intense or unbridled") and as such it can be argued that lust is a relative matter, i.e., a less than intense (or unbridled) amount of sexual desire is not necessarily lust.

Is the Biblical meaning the same as the English meaning? In the Bible when the word "lust" is used, it has usually been translated from the Greek word "epithumia" and denotes a strong desire of any kind, the various kinds of desire being frequently specified by some adjective (lusts of the flesh, of the mind, youthful lusts, etc.). I think it can be argued that the lusts of the Bible are equivalent to our colloquial usage of the word today.

Therefore, when the Bible refers to "lust" as something to be avoided by a Christian, I think that it is a valid conclusion to arrive at that this does not refer to sexual desire that you have under control (hence, not unbrideled). How do I know when I have my sexual desire under control? When it doesn’t control me. I have had lusts that were out of control in the sense that they unduly influenced my decisions, and I learned from the consequences that this was not a good thing, and I believe that is why God does not want me to lust; harmful things happen to me and others.

So, I hope this post answers that how I reconcile with reference to the Biblical warnings against lust, my beliefs as a Christian and my presence here on Literotica. More posts to follow - feel free to comment.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

I do have to confess that I have let my lust get the better of me twice tonight, and will probably let it get the better of me again before I go to bed; I have some chocolate ice cream, then I have a chocolate brownie, and I think I will have some chocolate ice cream again before bed.

I admit it, I am an out of control chocoholic.

 

[Cheyenne]

Sometimes the easiest answer is the short version.

Christians aren't perfect. We still sin. "Unbridled lust" will happen, and we'll be forgiven when it does.

 

[JazzManJim]

I'm going to jump in here, too, with my thoughts, in the hopes that maybe it'll help, too. Hey...you never know.

When you look at what is condemned in the Bible, much of what you see is not an individual action, but overindulgence of that action. There are a few exceptions, which tend to involve taking, or desiring to take other people's things (or people, in the case of adultery), and both of those bear on how I act.

I have normal human desires. I would say that my lusty desires may be a tad over normal. I handle them like I handle every other desire I have - I indulge it when and where I'm able, but in moderation. Moderation is the important point here. Paul wrote most often about "Mastering the body" as being a vital point of being a Christian. That holds true for lust, especially, so much that Paul made mention of it in several places. What he said, essentially, was "Lust is a normal thing. Sex is a normal thing. But if you aren't able to control your urges, then you're doing wrong and it would be better if you never had the urge".

Overindulgence is bad, breaching the bounds of marriage is bad, lust in and of itself isn't.

But It's late and I probably didn't explain myself fully. STG, you did wonderfully. I hope I didn't hamstring you too much.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Sometimes the easiest answer is the short version.

Christians aren't perfect. We still sin. "Unbridled lust" will happen, and we'll be forgiven when it does.

That may be the easiest answer, but it isn't the correct one when someone wants you to reconcile your continued presence on an erotic bulletin board.

Christians do of course sin, but we are supposed to be repentant and we are not supposed to repeat the same sin over and over again, and constantly submit ourselves to temptation if we cannot resist it - that shows a lack of conviction.

Otherwise we could just continually and purposefully be sinful and that would show no change of heart, it would not be a good example to others, and others would think (know) we were insincere.

 

[EthiopianPrince]

STG ... you've convinced me! I see no contradiction with you being a Christian and a lit member. Thanks for the explanation.