Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Matthew

[Newbie]

I'm reading it there, but can you help me understand it?

[jimwalton]

Lust is the word ἐπιθυμῆσαι, and in this context it means "an immodest appetite that is magnified and intemperate." Here it's a craving after something that will lead you to moral wrong. Animal desire is not in itself evil, nor is sexual desire. What's wrong is exerting the desire and oneself at the expense of another, letting our wills become dominated by immorality, and creating a wall between ourselves and God and ourselves and treating the woman, in this case, as a being of value in herself, not just for our enjoyment as an object.

Pornography is like that. It takes something human, real, and beautiful, and distorts it, cheapens our sexuality, and isolates it for trade. Instead, sexual desire is meant to be lived and expressed in the context of a healthy, integrated relationship. Lust smears. It's misdirected good.