Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Consider this: According to the Bible, the VERY FIRST commandment that God gave to the first man and woman was to ... get busy, as they say. "Be fruitful and mulitply..."
True, but I don't think the only purpose was multiplication of the human race.
Not the only purpose, no. Agreed. But neither can we separate that from it either. Any time you start to emphasize one facet over to the complete exclusion of the others, you start running into trouble -- and that's not just true of sex, but with most things in life.
I think the scripture in Colossians 2:20-23 speaks to this issue though I doubt it was specifically addressed that way originally.
"You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world such as, "Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!" Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe body discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires." NASB
(emphasis mine)
Unless God has commanded we abstain from something, then I think this scripture is implying that it does little spiritual good to do so just because it may require the exercise of discipline. Now the Bible does advocate fasting as a discipline at times but again, this is something God has commanded. And somehow I think fasting goes beyond just the discipline of it, but that's another thread.
Yeah, I think it's important to have as much control over one's self as possible, but few are cut out to be the aestheticists like Ghandi, who have way more self control than me. (calling him stupid? very un-nice)
I strive to control my desires as much as possible, but don't sweat it too bad if I cave in much of the time. I think the point is that you practice self-control.
Forget about lust for now, What about gluttony, sloth, greed, envy, and the other deadlys? I consider controlling those as important as controlling the sex drive (and I manage poorly on the latter).
I think the scripture in Colossians 2:20-23 speaks to this issue though I doubt it was specifically addressed that way originally.
"You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world such as, "Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!" Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe body discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires." NASB
(emphasis mine)
Unless God has commanded we abstain from something, then I think this scripture is implying that it does little spiritual good to do so just because it may require the exercise of discipline. Now the Bible does advocate fasting as a discipline at times but again, this is something God has commanded. And somehow I think fasting goes beyond just the discipline of it, but that's another thread.
I've fasted three times in my life for about 1 - 2 1/2 days. They were great experiences, will I do it again soon? No... But someday who knows... I've heard of people that have gone many days, but they are stronger than me.
I've read in Eastern Philosophies that the key to happyness is to refrain from your desires.
Yikes! Trebek! Have you ever seen photographs or been to any ancient Hindu temples??? Not to mention good old Tantric Buddhism!!! The Hindus and Buddhists are not shy!!!
With all due respect, (and I mean that!) I read the question that is posted and thought: "That's news to me!" I guess I never thought of "lust" as "sinful."
I guess one one of my questions would be is there any man, (or woman!) who did NOT, as an adolescent, experience lust???? It seems to me that it comes with the territory of adolescence in particular, and being a human being, in general.
I don't particularly regard "lust" as a bad thing; more like an aspect of our human nature. We have also learned, through our upbringing and living in a "civilized world" how to control our lust -- I know there are some terrible exceptions to that, but for the most part, I think it is something we have all experienced within a healthy context. Why is it that "sex" is so "dirty" in a religious sense? I'm not advocating that we time travel back to the late '60's, (although in some respects, it might not be that bad ) but come on! I thought "lusting" in it's appropriate context, vis-a-vis a relationship that hopefully is loving, was a "good" thing...
--Heck, if I'm wrong, then I obviously need some serious edification...eek:
Good point, but you are really referring to "Tantric Hinduism". Hinduism is such a broad ancient religion, I can't begin to understand it. i,e, The "Thugee" cult of last century had gruesome blood rituals and murder because they interpreted the religion incorrectly and worshipped the Bloody Goddess "Shiva". There are many offshoots from mainstream Hinduism.
I study Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, Confusionism....ect. But still believe in most of the bible, have read it more, and can draw many parallels to the basic ideas between East and West. Hinduism is the mother of all these religions, and has some negative offshoots as well, like the sexual stuff (hey, some like it?).
I've studied very little Hinduism but I like the fact that they predicted the world to be 6 Billion Years old! They might have been closer to the scientific mark than the old testament. Reincarnation makes more sense to me than "heaven or hell". I've met many ancient souls, and many recent ones to this planet, I've had flashbacks of previous lives. The Hindus, believe that life exists in many planets! So did the atheist Carl Sagan! Once you finish all your lifetimes and perfect yourself, then you achieve a sort of heaven called "Nirvana"; which is like merging with God and becoming one with him/her/it.
There is a lot of good stuff to be learned from Hinduism, but the Upanshads, the Vedas, the Bhagavadgita are a lot of information to sift through. The other Eastern religions have sifted thru it and made it easy to understand.
They all believe in the concept of "Karma" which means the same as "you reap what you sow", in Christianity.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
