How to Overcome LustExemplo

Amnon was about 22 years old at the time of this story in 2 Samuel. David was about 53 and Tamar was 15. Amnon was the prince of Israel, the next one in line to take over after David. And in this story, the devil used the passion that Amnon had to control, derail, and destroy his destiny.

2 Samuel 13:1 begins, “After that." After what? What is it referring to? If we go back, in chapter 11 David commits adultery with Bathsheba, and in chapter 12, the prophet Nathan exposes David’s sins.

David opened a door to the enemy through his sins of sexual immorality and murdering an innocent life. After this, his oldest son becomes obsessed with his 15-year-old half-sister. Amnon was not aware of the fact that his battle against lust did not start with him, he inherited it.

It is easy to blame our parents for what they pass on to us, but that does not change anything. Amnon did not realize that he was in a spiritual battle. Behind every tomato, there is a farmer. Tomatoes do not grow on their own, somebody cultivates them. Likewise, behind every repeated sexual sin there is a demon that cultivates it. Demons are waiting and ready to trap, entice, and hurt you.

Demonized is being controlled in a particular area of your life by a demon. That simply means that there is an area in your life, in this case your sexuality, that you do not have control of. It does not mean that you are owned. Demons cannot have Christians because the Holy Spirit has us, but Christians can have demons. If you lose control in the area of lust, it means someone else has control, a demon.

We may not be able to control what is passed on to us, but we are responsible for what we activate. For example, the color of your eyes, hair, and skin are all passed on to you and you cannot deactivate those characteristics. But there are other characteristics in your genes that you can deactivate based on experiences, choices, and associations.

2 Samuel 13:2 states that Amnon was sick over his sister for she was a virgin, and it was improper. Improper means that it was not right for Amnon to be with his sister. In Leviticus, God prohibited the Israelites to marry within their family.

You may not be struggling with lust like Amnon did, but what do you do when you desire somebody that the word of God says is improper? Like someone who is not a believer, or someone of the same sex, or something else. Well, if you are not a believer you do nothing and let the emotions take control. As Christians we believe that God is love, but nonbelievers see love as god–what love wants, love gets.

As believers we must choose to submit our emotions to God.

Submit your biology to your theology.

Submit your sexuality to your spirituality.

Submit your feelings to your faith.

Submit your chemistry to your Christ.

Why? Because you are not your god. You have a God who is your Lord and Savior. If you let your sexuality run rampant, it will destroy your spiritual life. Your theology and spirituality become like a leash on your emotions, lust, and sexuality that restrain them from taking control.

If you are struggling with lust, with feelings for someone or something you are not supposed to have feelings for, it is more spiritual than you realize. Get on your knees, talk to God about it, and cry out for help. Make a choice to submit to God.

Let's Pray:

God, I am struggling with these desires, I know they are not right, and I do not want to have them anymore. I cannot get rid of them of my own, so I submit this to You. Help me, please, in Jesus’ name, amen.