Sex glands are a God-given part of our autonomic nervous system. Normal sexual functioning is a regular, rhythmic cycle of life. But when Jesus said, “Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28), He was describing something beyond the boundary of God’s design for sex. The word for lust is epithumos . The prefix epi means “to add to,” signifying that something is being added to a normal drive. Jesus challenged us not to add onto the God-given sexual drive by polluting our minds with lustful thoughts. The only way to control your sexual drive is to control your thought life.

Sexual lust demands physical expression, and that’s where Romans 6 comes into play. We are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies (verse 12) by using our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness (verse 13). Whenever you use your body wrongly through a sexual offense, you give Satan a foothold and your sexual problem becomes a spiritual problem. A missionary shared with me at the end of a conference that he was finally free after 20 years of bondage to lust. He sought counseling for his problem during his preparation for missionary service and on every furlough, but he never gained lasting victory until he realized that it was a spiritual problem which needed a spiritual solution.

Scripture indicates that sexual sins are in a class by themselves because they require the use of the body. Virtually every person I have counseled regarding a spiritual conflict has confessed some kind of sexual aberration.

Prayer: Lord, I yield my sexual life to You as an expression of loving worship. I choose today to assume responsibility for my thoughts.