Spiritual Consequences of Lust
Just as healthy food nourishes your body, purity nourishes your spirit.
Lust is different. Lust strengthens your attachment to sexual pleasure and desire. Lust objectifies and dehumanizes, reducing people to mere objects for self-gratification.
When you give in to lustful impulses, you reinforce habits that are hard to break. In karmic terms, you bind yourself to cycles of craving and dissatisfaction.
The more you act on lust, the more you create conditions where you will face similar desires and challenges again. This can trap you in patterns that limit your true sense of freedom.
You may think lust promises excitement. But in reality, it leaves you restless as you find yourself on a merry-go-round searching for the next brief thrill to quench an insatiable desire that always returns.
Jesus once warned about the dangers of lust:
“Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Matthew 5:28
This means that lust is not just an action, but the condition of your heart. A lustful heart can bring repetitive thoughts, which are difficult to control.
Lust is often accompanied by other sins like adultery, pornography, masturbation, and fornication. If you use someone for your own pleasure, you’ll have to pay off these karmic debts.
How should we deal with lust?
Jesus once said:
“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
Matthew 5: 29-30
The Differences Between Love and Lust
Both love and lust can be intense, all-consuming, and leave you feeling euphoric. However, there are crucial differences between the two that you need to understand:
| Area | Lust | Love |
|---|---|---|
| Motivation | Lust is about physical gratification | Love emphasizes emotional/spiritual intimacy |
| Focus | Lust focuses on physical desire, attraction, and fantasy | Love appreciates the whole person and their authentic essence |
| Self-perspective | Lust is self-centered | Love is mutual caring |
| Duration | Lust is temporary and fades quickly after sex or conquest | Love is potentially lifelong |
| Commitment | Lust lacks devotion and is oriented toward casual, one-night-stand relationship | Love involves committed monogamy and is oriented toward long-term relationship |
| Communication | Lust has superficial communication | Love has deep communication and sharing |
| Sacrifice | Lust requires little or no sacrifice | Love requires the sacrifice of selfishness |
| Patience | Lust wants instant gratification | Love is patient and grows over time |
| Gut feeling | Lust is driven by adrenaline and hormones | Love has a calm feeling and a spiritual root |