Love vs. Lust

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:9

We are taught by Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment industry that the highest joy in life comes from ‘falling in love.’  Girls are encouraged to dream about their wedding day and have it all planned out before they are 16.  Boys are taught by our culture to look at girls as means to gratify their sexual lusts, as objects to be conquered, not loved.  Boys do not dream about their wedding day; they dream about their wedding night.  Unfortunately, our young people develop their idea of ‘true love’ from books, movies and TV.  They witness people falling in love one day and out of love not long afterward.  What they are seeing is not love; it is lust.

Lust has been defined as seeking to get a legitimate need met in an illegitimate way.  This kind of false love is focused on self – what the other person can do for us, not what we can do for them.  And it almost always results in heartache and sorrow.  Nevertheless, people pursue it tenaciously.

Here is a look at some differences between love and lust.

Love is always motivated to give	Lust is always motivated to take
Love patiently awaits its own fulfillment	Lust impulsively seizes for its own gratification
Love puts the interests of others ahead of its own interests	Lust thinks only of self and has no regard for how it impacts others
Love purposes to honor God through obedience	Lust rationalizes sinful choices and hates to hear God’s standards
Love gently concedes its own desires when necessary	Lust resents and gets angry when anything prevents its gratification
Love realizes fulfillment within God’s parameters	Lust is driven to seek greater degrees of perversion to gratify itself
Love is from God, who is pure and holy	Lust comes from our enemy, who seeks to deceive and destroy us and keep us in bondage
Love builds up and gives life	Lust tears down and leads to bondage

Jesus does not approach us to consume or take from us; He comes to give Himself to us – to pour Himself into us so that His life might come forth from us and positively affect others and to be a sweet aroma to the Father.  Lust selfishly consumes, while true love builds up the one loved.*

Beloved, don’t fall for the world’s lies about love.  What they are promoting is really lust, and all it does is break hearts and destroy lives.  Seek the true love that Jesus offers, and then, let Him teach you to love others with the overflow of His agape love!

*(An excerpt from my book Loved and Accepted.)