25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. 26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.-Proverbs 6:25-26, BSB
Lust tries to pull you in by masking itself through beauty. Once you are in its clutches, it will rob you of your finances [by being with a prostitute] and can even take your life [being with a married woman] as the husband’s jealousy cannot be quenched.
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. -Matthew 5:28-29, BSB
Lust is prepared for the eyes so that it can take root in your mind. If you are not careful, it can take you away from Jesus Christ. For a Christian, this can mean discipline, which can even cause death if the believer hardens his heart to the Holy Spirit’s conviction. For someone who is not fully committed to Christ, it can send them to hell as it keeps them from seeking the Lord as the person’s flesh is consumed by it.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. -Galatians 5:16-17, BSB
Every Christian has two natures. The flesh, which is full of sin, and the man’s spirit, which the Holy Spirit dwells with and directs. These two natures are in constant war with each other. The man’s flesh wants to dominate him to fill its sinful cravings, and the man’s spirit, which desires to be directed by the Holy Spirit to live a life of purity and righteousness.
In verse 24 of Galatians 5, Christians no longer have to submit to the flesh. By the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, we can overcome the desires of the flesh. The closer we get to Jesus Christ, the better we will be able to manage our sinful tendency and keep it under submission.
5 Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. -Colossians 3:5, BSB
For the sinful desires of the flesh must be put to death. So the goal for a Christian is to kill sexual immorality from his life.
3 For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; 4 each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. -1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, BSB
God’s will for every believer is to be holy as God is holy by avoiding falling into lust. In verse 4, God wants you to have self-control. Now, since God wants you to overcome the temptation to lust, He will provide you with His strength so that you may overcome it.
Just like God who told Cain to master the sin that desired to overtake him, so how much more those who have the Holy Spirit living inside them can master falling into sexual immorality.
Spiritual Minefield 