Job 31:1 � I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl�
The Psalmist also says that �Turn my eyes away from worthless things, preserve my life according to your word�
Personally,in relation to Job 31:1, I do think that one can actually make a �contract� with their eyes not to look where they should not and to immediately turn from whatever draws them to lust�
Am very sure that there are people even on here who are struggling with lust and also some might have fallen like David did in the bible (2Samuel 11:2-4)� Yes! For the gentle men, it all begins with the look, then comes desire then comes the touch�am I right?
OK. Friends what can you say/comment about all of this in relation to what Job said? Do you think it is practical?
Absolutly practicle...when applied...I've come to understand that God's Grace impowers a Born Again believer to "Turn" Away from the "Sins" of the flesh...to "Look" away from...to not "Allow" it into your life...to say "NO" to it...Grace is God's Action in our Faith of Believing in and of Him...xo
The key word in the New king james version is ( to) Jesus says whoever looks at a woman ( to ) lust for her has already commited adultry with her in his heart.
The context is intent, intent, intent. Lust and desire are not bed fellows. A man desires his woman in love. A adulter lusts every woman not to love but because she has become a object ( Not human) in his heart.
This is why Jesus says he has already even before looking with lust commited adultry because his motive is purly out of selfish fleshly lust.
God made man and women to have desire for physical connection else their would not be generations to follow. As a man my first impression of a woman is do I find her attractive or not in her physical beauty.
She can be the greatest woman but if she is not physically desirable in my sight then she is not for me. This is not shallow but how God created men as visual creatures.
You ladies know this. This is why you compete with doing your hair and makeup and becoming fit so you find your self appealing to a man.
You ask your girl friends if the dress makes you look fat or the shoes match your purse. You give great attention to your appearence proir to a date and you stress about it as well.
Next time you have a date just look at all the clothes that are on your bed after trying everything on. To find that perfect dress.
Brother, I find your argument comes from the world and not from scripture.
It is through the lust of the eye that many have fallen, right from Adam and Eve in the garden, onward!
Since clearly you cannot commit adultery with your own wife, lust and desire can certainly be bedfellows, and most often are. That�s the point. Christ said, when you�ve lusted you�ve pretty much already committed the sin, whether anyone but God is aware of it or not. The context was �lusting after a woman that is not your wife�. Lusting after your own wife?--> Game on! :)
1 John 2:16 reminds us that �For everything in the world�the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life�comes not from the Father but from the world.�
Every reference in scripture to someone relying on the judgement of their eye for choosing well, they almost without fail end up in some serious trouble:
Eve �saw that the fruit was good to eat and make one wise��um, oops!
Sampson looked on Delilah and desired her, and well� we know how that turned out!
David looked on Bathsheba and sinned against God, his army leader, her and his nation!
Scripture, on the other hand, says the way to pick a wife is much different. The �perfect wife� described in Proverbs 31 does not mention one single word about her being pretty or desirable. In fact, it says �Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised�. Picking this perfect wife had �0� to do with her looks.
1 Peter chpt3 reminds us that a woman�s value is in her character, not outward beauty like the world depends on: � when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God�s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves.�
A godly man will seek the things that Christ desires in a mate, more than what his flesh desires, for he knows her beauty as well as his own is both temporary and temporal. Isaiah 4:6-8 �Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.�
In fact, I propose that a godly man choosing a woman with little regards (um, perhaps �no� regard) for the way she looks, is a reflection of how Christ sees us, you and I, as His bride! If He chose us because of how we looked, even collectively� we would not be heading to heaven! Even if it was only figuratively how we looked!
So, as a godly man, you do well to encourage any sister in Christ who is fretting about her looks in order to attract a man, that God has a higher calling for her than to attract a worldly-thinking man.
I would argue that the philosophical difference from appreciating physical beauty and lust is not quite as clear as most would like to believe and that physical attractiveness is inherently linked to lust (whether conscious or unconscious). Human beings are extremely visually based creatures.
Now that doesn't mean that you cannot fight against the more vulgar part of yourself, but like sin in general, we can only fight against it. We cannot make ourselves live perfect lives.
However, it's only natural to want to marry someone you are lustful for. Lust is what has driven the success of the human race from its infancy after all! We simply need to limit it.
Proverbs 31 :22 She makes tapestry for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Yes it is the inner woman that is most valuable and unfortunitally many men including my past self look at women as objects. From young men we are trained to do this by magizines and tv.
We have a greater issue of Adultry in the church then just looking with lust.
It is the confused issue of adultry Jesus teaches about when divorce happens. A remarried woman who commits adultry when she is divorced by her husband. A Husband who causes a wife to commit adultry when he divorces his wife. A husband who commit adultry when he divorces his wife and rremarries. A wife who commits adultry when she divorces her husband and remarries. Jesus words not mine.......
Many in the church dismiss these pasages and now we are in a state of confusion concerning oneness.
Gods mind is all about oneness and knowing what oneness truly is. What love truly is.
I know this is not a popular position but someone has to speak out concerning this and it might as well be me :)
Christians should marry for love not Lust. Men are visual but not every Man lusts after women; God gives a man control over that when he becomes "born again" . Stay with Christ and avoid the lust of the Flesh.
