Desire’s Trap

Lust is one of the most destructive lies we can believe because it promises pleasure while hiding the cost. It reduces people to objects, distorts God’s design for intimacy, and slowly pulls the heart away from purity and purpose. What begins as a glance can become a stronghold. What seems harmless can become a prison.

Transcript

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Concrete Confessions faces what we try to bury, like cracked concrete. Truth eventually shows. What's good, family? Welcome back to Concrete Confessions. You know, where we don't hide from the struggle. We speak on it. We expose it and we bring it straight to God. Today's episode, it's episode seven. It's gonna get uncomfortable. Not because it's confusing, not because, you know, it's a crazy topic. I mean it is a crazy topic, but more so because it's familiar. We're talking about lust. Not just the physical, not just the traction. I'm talking about that pull, that craving, that internal voice that says just this one time, as if just this one time won't condemn your whole soul. You feel me? And I'm not coming like I got it all figured out. I've I've mastered the art of staying away from from lust. Nah. I've been there, I'm still there, and I still fight it. Because lust doesn't knock on the front door, it slips in through your eyes, through your mind, through moments when you're tired, bored, or alone. I mean, it's subtle, but it's strong, very strong. Now, Jesus goes deeper, deeper than most people expect in Matthew chapter 5, verses 27 and 28. You have heard, you shall not commit adultery. But I say, everyone who looks with lustful intent, looks, not acts, looks, has already committed adultery in his heart. That changes everything. Because now it's not just about what you do, it's about what you entertain, what you feed. You feel me? You see, because the world says, if you didn't act on it, you're good, bro. Don't worry about it. You just looking, nah. But Jesus says, if you fed it, it's already working. You feel me? So you you look once, human nature, you can't help it. But you turn to look again, you're feeding into it. It's just how it is, and that's where the real battle is. It's not your hands, it's your heart, it's what you actually desire. You see, he he he goes even harder. If your eyes cause you to sin, tear it out. Now, he's obviously not telling you to rip your eye out, he's not telling you to hurt yourself. Let's be you know real here. But he's showing you how serious this is. Cut it off, remove it, do not play with it. It's your soul that you're playing with. Because let's be real, we don't cut it off, we manage it, we scroll past it, but slow down just a little and we say, it's nothing, but we revisit it later on. We flirt with the very thing that's trying to trap us. Isn't that crazy? That's why 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 18 through 20 says, flee from sexual immorality, not fight it, not debate it, but run. Run. Because some battles aren't meant to be fought head on, they're meant to be escaped. Then it reminds you, you are not your own. You were bought with a price. Now, don't be funny about it. We all know our bodies belong to God. You feel me? That just means your body isn't yours to do whatever you want with it. It's a temple, and that's where conviction hits. Because lust turns the temple into a playground, it takes something sacred and makes it casual. Colossians chapter 3, verse 5 says, put to death sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetedness, which is idle tree. Idle tree. That means you're not just struggling, you're worshiping something else that's heavy. You're worshiping something else, and I had to sit with that. Yes, I had to sit with that because it's easy to say, oh, I just messed up, but it's harder to admit, I gave something else the place only God should have. You put something else above God. That's crazy to even think about, and trust me, I never thought about it in that way either. Excuse me. So, what's the move? Romans chapter 13, verse 14 says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. No provision. That means don't set the table for temptation, don't create space for it to grow. You feel me? You gotta set traps for the for these things, because if not, it will trap you. And that might look like changing what you watch, changing when you're alone, changing what you allow your eyes to linger on, because lust feeds on access. The more access you have to certain things, the more lust will feed on it and latch itself on. So you gotta be careful. You see, Job says something powerful in Job chapter 31, verse 1. I made a covenant with my eyes, not a suggestion, a covenant. That's commitment, that's discipline, that's saying, I don't trust myself enough to play around with this. You gotta be honest with yourself. You gotta know what is it that you need to cut out. Because only you do. Now, Proverbs chapter 6, verse 25 says, Do not lust, do not let her captivate you, because lust doesn't just invite, it captures. Scripture even points it wild in Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 24. Like an animal in heat, driven, uncontrolled, that's what unchecked desire turns into. You stop leading yourself and start being led by impulse. Crazy, right? And that's dangerous because once your desires lead, your decisions follow, and your life starts drifting quietly, you don't even notice it. But God's will is clear in First Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 3 through 5. This is the will of God, your sanctification that you abstain. That's not punishment, that's protection. And then Romans chapter 6, verses 11 through 14 reminds you consider yourselves dead to sin, alive to God. Sin doesn't own you anymore. It might knock, but it doesn't have the keys. Only you let it in. But the tension comes here. You can know all of this, right? And still feel the pull. That doesn't make you fake, it makes you human. The difference is what you do next. It's all on you. It is really all on you. James chapter 5, verse 16 says, Confess and pray that you may be healed. Healing doesn't happen in hiding, it happens in honesty. Be real with yourself and what you need help with. You feel me? And I'll be real. This one, this is definitely one of those things that people don't talk about enough because it's embarrassing, it's private, it's easy to hide, but hidden things grow. Even scripture gives balance in First Corinthians chapter 7, verse 9. Better to marry than to burn. Meaning, God understands the fire, but he gives a healthy place for it. And then there's this powerful shift. Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22 through 24. Put off your old self, be renewed, put on the new self. That means you're not stuck like this, you're not defined by your past patterns. You can actually change. Because, yeah, lust is strong, but lust is not stronger than discipline, it's not stronger than obedience, and it's definitely not stronger than God. So, the question isn't, do you struggle with lust? Because most people do, trust me, they really do, no matter how much they deny it. The real question is, are you feeding it or are you fighting it? And that's something you need to ask yourself. Because regardless of anything, nobody can help you with it but yourself and God. Trust in Him, and He will give you the tools that you need. I promise you, it is not easy, but it's doable. Because remember, sin doesn't define you, it does not make you who you are. We're only human, so of course we will struggle with it, but trust in God and He will help you through it all. And that's facts, because Jesus says so. And just like that, we've reached the end of this chapter. Seven episodes, seven conversations, seven moments where we chose not to hide, but to confront what's real. From pride to envy to anger to greed to lust to sloth and to gluttony. We didn't skip anything. We didn't sugarcoat it. We brought it all to the surface and we laid it on concrete. I just want to say thank you. To everybody who listened, who shared, who sat with these words in silence, who felt convicted, who felt seen. This wasn't just content. This was process. This was growth in real time. And for me personally, this series wasn't about speaking at you, it was about walking with you. Because everything we talked about, I've had to wrestle with too. And I still do. But that's the beauty of it. We're not called to be perfect, we're called to be transformed. And if there's one thing I pray you take away from this whole series, it's this. You are not stuck, you are not too far gone, you are not defined by your worst moments. Because grace doesn't just cover, it changes. This might be the end of the seven sense series, but it's not the end of the journey. There's more conversations coming, more truth, more growth. Because this walk with God, it doesn't stop, it deepens. So wherever you are right now, keep building. Wherever you are right now, keep praying, keep fighting the battles that nobody sees because God sees all of it. This has been concrete confessions. Seven parts, one foundation. And we're just getting started. Amen.