Catalyst

Series: “Remote Control”

Focus: Avoiding the deadly decision of giving control of our lives to lust.

Family Discussion: One aspect of our lives that can be absolutely deadly is the control of lust.  The verses below mention specifically the importance that it holds for guys, but girls absolutely deal with it, too.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 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 5:27-29

The action of sin is started by the idea of lust.  No matter the sin, it always begins with a desire for something you shouldn’t do.  That’s what lust is all about.  It’s a state of the heart that causes us to act in a way that is not God’s desire.  Sin happens when we take a God-given desire and use it in a God-forbidden way.  What does that look like for you?

Discussion Questions:

1. Why is it so easy to hand over our decision-making control to lustful desires?
2. How difficult is it to get control back once you’ve given it up?
3. Why do you think Jesus raises the stakes and tells us that lust is a sin?
4. What are some ways that you can “lose one part of your body” to avoid falling into sin?

Wrap Up:  The great lie of lust is that if you give in to it you will gain all the control and power that you want.  Lust is more about us wanting to control than wanting to be fulfilled.  As a family, talk through some ways that you can safe-guard yourselves from buying this lie.  As David learned in 2 Samuel 11, lust leads not only to sin, but also to a pattern that is very hard to recover from until it is way too late.