The Christian People and Lust

Recently, I saw a video on Instagram, where a woman was discussing the difference between flirting and showing the love of Christ. She explained how she used to be very flirtatious and simply thought of it as her personality and her showing the love of Christ. Obviously, she does not still believe that and went on to say that Jesus was the most loving man in the entire world, and He was not flirtatious whatsoever. I thought to myself that this girl is completely right. But the comments on that video were very disappointing.

My main disposition was that the people who were saying these things, claimed to be followers of Christ. I saw things like, "We are not responsible for a man's thoughts." "I can do what I want." "Doesn't it say to the man to gouge his own eye out?" The tone of these comments were very hateful, and I was very surprised to see that these things were being said by people who claim to follow Jesus. Now of course, you are not responsible for what people think, nobody ever said that. But when will we stop blaming everything on everyone else. Keep in mind, the fall of humanity happened not just because of a woman and not just because of a man. They both sinned. You're probably thinking what is this girl talking about. Time after time, I see people pinning the blame on everyone else instead of taking some responsibility. Keep in mind, when the Bible talks about lust, it wasn't just addressing men, it was addressing women as well.

Here's how I see lust. Women lust after men, men lust after women. While there are unprovoked occasions where lust occurs, most of the occasions, are provoked. For example, in today's society, it is acceptable for men and women to squander their sexuality. This looks like dressing or acting inappropriately. Men and women both do it. There isn't one who indulges more, men and women are at the same level. It is a merry-go-round where women and men dress or act a certain way to provoke sexual sin. While we can all say that it is not our burden to always worry about a person's thoughts, we can say that it is our responsibility to hold ourselves in a way that doesn't encourage sin. You may not be forcing that man or woman to take part in self-pleasure or other types of sexual sin, but you are not helping the situation by encouraging it by how you dress or act. It is the contribution that we are bringing to the table. As Christians, we are meant to spread the gospel. You cannot trick yourself into believing that how you carry yourself does not matter. I'm not saying that you should carry yourself a certain way for the appeal of people. You should carry yourself a certain way because you are an ambassador for God. Jesus did not come down in a tight mini skirt or have His chest out all the time. Jesus did not make flirtatious comments or act provocatively. Jesus showed love.

It was very disheartening to see comments that claimed they held no responsibility to represent the Kingdom of God. I have seen and heard way too many men and women who claim to represent Christ and then use their sexuality to 'lead' people. Your sexuality is not what brings people closer to Christ. If I had to flirt my way to heaven, I don't even know what I would do. Now here is something else that needs to be addressed.

I finally found out why people think that the Christian religion is so divided. Among the hateful comments, there was a genre of comment that I found. Again, these individuals claimed to love Jesus but spoke with such detestation. There were comments that said, "Pick me," among other name calling. There were comments that said, "How exhausting is it for you to have this disgusting mindset?" That one was actually said, no dramatization. This is why people believe that the people of God are divided. In some cases, we are. There is no excuse for the people of God to be divided. Division is the work of Satan. One question was running through my head while reading these comments: Do you really think that commenting these things, shows the love of Christ? The answer is no. It doesn't. Jesus didn't call people names, He didn't mock. He was not disrespectful.

In conclusion, we really need to get past the idea that only men lust and that sexual sin is a one-sided thing. It isn't. There is the one that falls, there is the one that provokes it, and there is the one that engages. As women and men of Christ, we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Women and men of God should not be wearing provocative clothing, we should be wearing the armor of God. Men and women of God should not be acting and holding our confidence in our sexuality, we should keep our confidence in God. This isn't about babysitting men; this is about truly claiming your identity as a daughter of God. This goes for men too. We are children of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We should love one another, not pray for each other's downfall. Think of it as you scratch my back, I scratch yours. It is not solely the women's responsibility to maintain modesty. It is the responsibility of the man and woman. Flirting is not spreading the love of Christ. Dressing a certain way does not spread the love of Christ. The love of Christ is not expressed through flirting or leading people on. This actually reminded me of something a friend said. She said, "Instead of leading people on, lead them to Christ."