Good day dear listeners and welcome again to overcoming temptations. I wish you God’s grace and favour in Jesus name. Today our topic is titled “love or lust”
Several times it could be difficult to differentiate love from lust, many times people say they are in love, they are actually in lust. Feeling alone cannot be a good test of love, because feeling are temporal and could change. Today Movies, Television, Magazines and so on have all tried to show what love is but many times they failed. If Hollywood and Nollywood stars who act love films, know so much about love then their marriages would have been all successful. One moment you hear some say that I love him so much, he is the best man in the world, the next moment the same person says he is the worst thing that has happened to me in life, I hate him so much. So what exactly is love. 1 John 4:8 says God is Love, now this may sound too spiritual but it is the simple truth, because for someone to love you fully he needs to love God first.
It is difficult to assess love when everything is fine, but love proves itself amidst trials and difficulties. For instance if you are rich, a lot of people will tell you that they love you so much, however if you were poor , will those people still love you, Today many people marry because of wealth and money, not true love.
So from 1 Corinthians 13 we can clearly see what love is and what lust is, so use this scripture to access if it is love or lust.
- Love is patient
- Love is kind
- Love does not envy or unnecessarily jealous
- Love is not boastful
- Love is not proud but humble
- Love is not rude
- Love is not self-seeking or selfish
- Love is not easily angered
- Love does not keep record of wrongs
- Love delights in truth
- Love protects
- Love trusts
- Love hopes
- Love perseveres or endures
- Love never fails
- Love is the greatest
So for someone to posses these qualities it takes the grace of God, that is why the Bible says God is love. Someone who claims to love you should posses most of them. However you also need to also posses them, you should not ask for what you are not prepared to give.
So let us look at lust, lust is the opposite of love:
- Lust is impatient
- Lust is cruel or wicked
- Lust envies others and jealous
- Lust is boastful
- Lust is proud
- Lust is rude to others
- Lust is self-centered or selfish
- Lust is easily angered
- Lust keep records of wrongs
- Lust hates truth
- Lust takes advantage
- Lust distrusts others
- Lust has no hope
- Lust gives up
- Lust always fails
- Lust is the worst way to live
May the Lord grant you grace to love and not to lust in Jesus name.