letters to surfers
What is the difference between love and lust?
Robert Brow (www.brow.on.ca)
Sexual feelings were given to us by God through the genes we received
from our parents. Since Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, he would
have had sexual feelings as we do (Hebrews 4:15). So there is no
point in feeling guilty about sexual feelings (see Living
Totally: Without Guilt). Lust begins when we decide to misuse our
sexual feelings. Jesus explained that a heart decision to commit adultery
was in God's sight already sinful even if the physical act did not take
place (Matthew 5:28, James 1:15). On this site we define love
as caring for the freedom of the other. That is the way God loves us.
In marriage this is expressed in the mutuality described in 1 Corinthians
7:1-16. A decision to force or manipulate the other to engage in a
sexual act is already a form of rape and a denial of love (see Adultery:
An Exploration of Love and Marriage
chapters
2 and 6.
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