Operation
Most of us had to read The Odyssey in high school. You may not remember much, but you probably remember the Sirens.
They did not attack ships.
They did not throw spears.
They did not create storms.
They sang. And their song was so beautiful that sailors would steer straight toward it, not realizing what waited beneath the surface, rocks, shipwrecks, death. No ship crashed because of waves. They crashed because of music. Odysseus survived not because he trusted his willpower, but because he didn’t. He built boundaries before he ever needed them.
That story has lasted thousands of years because it tells the truth about us: The most dangerous things in life rarely look dangerous. They look desirable.
Jesus says something very similar in Matthew 5. He teaches that sin does not just happen in our actions, it starts in our desires. And if we do not deal with disordered desires, they eventually lead to destruction.
“If your right eye causes you to stumble… cut it off.” (Matthew 5:29–30)
Not because God is harsh. But because God is serious about freedom.
This week we talked about this big idea:
Lust is desire that has been disconnected from love, commitment, and God’s design.
And the Bible is clear. Lust is not just sexual. It is any desire that starts to rule us instead of serve us.
You can lust for:
Pleasure
Money
Comfort
Approval
Power
Control
The problem is not that we want things.
The problem is when what we want starts to want us.
We looked at three traps that usually lead us there:
1. Isolation
Sin grows best in unwitnessed spaces.
2. Insecurity
We often forget who we are and more importantly whose we are, which leads to us becoming insecure.
3. Opportunity
You do not plan to fall.
You just fail to plan not to.
Then we talked about three ways out:
Accountability instead of isolation.
Identity instead of insecurity.
Boundaries instead of unmanaged access and opportunities.
But the most important part of the message was this:
You do not overcome sin by obsessing over sin.
You overcome sin by falling in love with Jesus.
Some of us are exhausted because we are trying to be our own savior.
Jesus says:
“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
You do not fight lust to become someone new.
You fight lust because in Christ, you already are.
Stop staring at the storm.
Start fixing your eyes on Jesus.
He is not ashamed of you.
He is not done with you.
And He is very, very good at saving people who cannot save themselves.
- Pastor Aaron Perry