The War Within:
An Anatomy Of Lust

(An Article From  Leadership Magazine)


     I place this article here because it is an amazingly practical article on the nature of lust.  In the gay community as well as in the heterosexual community lust is no stranger.

     The article is written by an anonymous heterosexual, Christian, evangelical minister/leader who reflects on his own experience of being controlled by lust.

     In his own words: "I grew up in a sheltered Christian background, where I learned to rely on simple, black-and-white, just-say-no repression as the best defense against all forms of temptation. But that defense failed me in the matter of lust. I was utterly unprepared for the force, the almost magical force, of human sexuality."

     "I ultimately came the reject repression as the best response to my sexuality for the same reason that I rejected indulgence: it fails to satisfy the underlying human needs. Indulgence meets temporary needs but disconnects them from the underlying needs of intimacy. Similarly, repression may give me an escape from an immediate temptation toward lust, but it will not satisfy the state that made me susceptible to lust in the first place."

     Unfortunately the writer, though Christian,  is both male and heterosexual.... and evangelical! The context in which he writes is the context of a more literal interpretation of the bible. Nevertheless what he writes has much to say. My hope is that someone in the gay/lesbian community will write a good article on the experience and strategy of dealng with obsessive and compulsive lust from within the GLBT experience.

     If you are looking for something on this topic, please read this article. Apply it to yourself by ringing out the principles that apply to you and your sexual orientations and situation in life.

     It seems to me that Christian sexual guidelines can not be applied in the same way to GLBT persons. However the spirituality and intent behind these guidelines have much to teach us. Likewise this article can help us to reflect on our own experience of lust. It can help us to integrate our sexual impulses with our life in God.

     The original article is posted here in four sections for easier downloads:

     Section 1     click here
     Section 2    click here
     Section 3    click here
     Section 4    click here
If you would prefer the slower download in one complete article click here.
Justin McBride


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