Lust Leads To Adultery

Gaze not upon a woman

The scripture says that a man should not gaze upon a woman. The admonition is for good reason. To gaze upon a woman by a man, is to be taken in by that which is gazed upon. There is something in the connection between a man and a woman that works on the inside, to bring into captivity the one that gazes intently. Some think that the internal fixation is a thing that happens to the other person, yet the internal fixation is universal and not selective. Therefore, Jesus in His compassion correctly advises all men to, “not gaze at a woman with lust in the heart”. The act will certainly capture the gazer and will take the gazer prisoner and not allow the captive to escape until the act is consummated and the sin is committed. Once the sin is committed then the cost of the sin will have to be payed. What is the cost of the sin ? The cost of the sin is the same cost as other sins and that cost or wages payed is death itself. Therefore, if the cost is death then the cost is to expensive for anyone to pay. For the wages of sin is death.

Examples From The King’s Family

No man is exempt from the action of the eyes as they see women. Two examples that we will peruse at this time are the examples of King David and his son Ammon. King David made the mistake of gazing at Bathsheba while she bathed on the rooftop. David was restless until he arranged to have her come to his palace and he then slept with her by force. Having committed adultery with her, David then attempted to cover his tracks by having her husband murdered. David was blind to his sin and had to be convinced by his prophet Nathan that he had sinned against the Lord God and against Himself. Similarly, Ammon the son of David fell into the same trap when Ammon gazed upon his half sister Tamar. Ammon looked with lust upon his half sister until he developed a crush on her and felt that he had to have her sexually. Had he been in his right mind he would have realized that this desire that he had, was sinful. At one time before the act was consummated, Tamar attempted to reason with him unsuccessfully saying, that if he committed this shameful act then he would be as the foolish men in the Kingdom at that time. Nevertheless, Ammon being blinded by lust disregarded all reason and proceeded to assault his half sister and did complete the disgraceful act. Once the act was done Ammon then hated his sister more that he had thought that he loved her. Ammon became a different person and disgraced his sister by not then marrying her and giving her the respect that she deserved.

Problems Of The Heart

Lust is a heart problem and can only be solved by a heart solution. In a world where the showcasing of women for profit is a fine art the age-old admonitions against gazing on women seems a thing gone the way of the dinosaur. But the old advice remains the best advice. It continues to be an ongoing problem. The problem is one of the heart and not necessarily a mind problem but is a heart problem. The solution of this sticky problem is stated simply, “to not gaze upon a woman”, to drop the gaze, yet there is no simple answer to a problem that manifests itself from the inside and not a thing that is placed upon us from the outside. When the gaze is committed, then the act of the sin is not realized or admitted by the self. It then becomes a thing that is desired by the gazer.

Conclusion

To give in to the thought of the object of desire is to commit adultery if the gazer is married. Simply thinking that you would commit the lustful act constitutes adultery. At this phase the adultery is still in your mind and is not visible to anyone but the gazer, the one that has let lust have it’s way in the thought process. The only thing remaining at this point is the actual act making the imagined adultery, actual adultery. This actual adultery is punishable by divorce, and it will be a legal punishment since that is the punishment for the act of adultery that was committed. So the thought develops into the actual act if given opportunity.

How do we combat or counter this dreadful thing? We gaze not at the woman that looks pleasing to the eye. Candy will rot the teeth, eye candy will rot the soul. When we see the desirable sight we have to avert our eyes first of all, then we have to divert our mind. We have to put our mind on something other than the object of desire. The only thing that has that power is God Himself. In the beginning God put the desire of the opposite sex within man, with the command to “be fruitful and multiply”. We are subject to being fruitful and multiplying. The desire is a desire that was meant to be expressed over a lifetime, in the bonds of marriage. Sex was created for marriage but is misused outside of marriage. Within a marriage the desire for our marriage partner is a thing that has a good purpose. Day by day the desire has to be there in order to have the children that are needed to transform the earth from a wild to a cultivated world. What does God tell us to do? Bring the passions of the heart under the control of the Spirit of God. The thing to do is to turn the lust over to the Spirit. To do that we have to think on spiritual things or things of God. Two opposite things cannot hold the same mind space and the superior spiritual things of God will conquer the gaze of the eye of man and the power of the gaze will then be broken. To do this thing will result in good success.