“Don’t touch. Don’t taste. Don’t handle”. We hear these three “rules” often when learning how to fight—and overcome—lust.
The problem is, mere rule-keeping does not itself get to the heart of lust. This is one of the great lessons Paul teaches in Scripture. Merely knowing the law only aggravates our lusts (Romans 7:7-12), and following rigid ascetic regulations—don’t touch, don’t taste, don’t handle—is “of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:20-23).
If the “law” itself is not able to turn our hearts away from temptation, then how exactly do we fight against a spirit of lust? And how can we finally overcome it?
Editor’s Note: Are you a teenager struggling with lust? Before reading this post, I encourage you to check out this article we wrote especially for teens, How to Overcome Lust: 4 Tips for Teens.
How the Bible Teaches Us to Fight Lust
In 2 Timothy 2:22, Paul offers some of the best, most concise bits of Biblical advice on how to overcome lust: “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
Commit it to memory. Chew on it daily. Let your mind marinate in it, for in it lies three biblical strategies for fighting lust.
See related: What is Lust in the Bible?
1. Run From Lust
“So flee youthful passions”
“Passions” refer to our cravings, our longings, and our desires. More specifically, the passage speaks of “youthful passions.” These fleshly lusts are said to “wage war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). On the surface, these cravings are anchored in the members of our body (Romans 6:12), but as we look deeper, we find they stem from our sinful hearts (Romans 7:7). Ultimately, these passions are forms of idolatry (Colossians 3:5), revolving our lives and desires around created things rather than the Creator.
See related: For singles: How to Handle Strong Sex Drive in a God-Honoring Way
We must run from these things. Every Christian, even though he or she is indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, still lives in a mortal body surrounded by worldly amusements. These youthful lusts stubbornly cling to our heels. As we see these passions stirred in us, we must habitually flee from them.
- This might mean mentally fleeing: bouncing our thoughts away from lustful imaginations.
- This might mean visually fleeing: bouncing our eyes away from lustful images.
- This might mean physically fleeing: walking (or running) away from tempting situations.
See related: Overcoming Temptation: Bible Verses and Principles to Help You Resist Sin
2. Run to Christ
“. . . pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace”
It is not enough to flee from youthful lusts. We must run toward a new passion. We are to “pursue,” that is, eagerly and swiftly run toward Christlikeness.
Christ promises His people a heart of:
- Righteousness (real integrity, a passion for justice, and a life pleasing to God)
- Faith (strong and welcome conviction and trust in God)
- Love (benevolent affection toward God and others)
- Peace (tranquility in the heart and harmony with God and others)
We are to run hard after these things each day knowing these character qualities are how we were created to live. We pursue these things knowing it is our destiny to live this way. A billion years from now, when sin is a distant memory, we will be living lives of love, peace, and righteousness in the kingdom of God. Having this hope we purify ourselves, just as He is pure (1 John 3:3).
3. Run With Godly Friends
“. . . along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
We must not only run from lust and toward God’s vision for our lives, but we must also run with our brothers and sisters with the same vision. We must all find companions for this stretch of the road, those who share our faith and convictions, those in the common struggle for holiness.
These friends should be those who “call on the Lord,” an expression for those who are saved (Acts 22:16; Romans 10:13). These are other men and women who have also cried out to God for the forgiveness of their sins from a “pure” (genuine) heart.
Running with others involves a certain level of intentionality. It is not enough to simply know others around us are on the same journey because they profess the Christian faith. We must have real running companions, those who actually help us flee youthful passions and pursue a Christlike heart.
James 5:16 and Hebrews 10:24-25 offer four key building blocks that give structure to how Christian accountability should look. These building blocks are: meeting together, confession of sin, prayer, and encouragement.
Meeting together is the foundation. This includes all the basic methods of communication and conversation: meeting for coffee, talking on the phone, texting, writing emails, or anything that involves a meeting of minds. The central pillar in the room is confession of sin: getting honest with God and one another about what we are doing that we shouldn’t do or not doing what we should. The outer walls that support and protect this relationship are prayer and encouragement.
Why Can’t I Just Stop Lusting?
People ask me all the time, “Why can’t I just stop lusting?” I share my response to these people in this video below, which happens to include references to 2 Timothy 2:22. We believe so strongly that this verse contains the best strategy for how to overcome lust and quit porn that we actually used it as the foundation for a 40-day challenge called Overcome Porn. This challenge walks you through these three strategies and equips you with some of our best resources to put porn in your past for good. So watch this video, and give Overcome Porn: The 40-Day Challenge a try today.
Fighting against lust isn’t easy, but it’s also not something that you need to do alone. Through prayer, Scripture, accountability, and a heartfelt desire to flee from lustful passions, you can resist temptation and overcome lust.
We’d love to hear from you. What has God taught you about breaking free from lust? Comment below!
RUNNING TO GOD. I incorporate wholesome pleasure in my worship time with God. Here is what I do. Sight: I light a candle to remind me He is the Light of the world. Smell: I burn incense reminding me my prayers are like incense to Him. Voice and Hearing: I worship singing songs from a collection of Christian music I gathered off Spotify to come into His courts with praise. Sense of Touch: As an artist I love the feel of pencil on paper so I write my prayers and things I hear God saying to me (things that encourage me which do not contradict the Word of God). I start with praise then tell him what is on my mind and ask him to speak to me about these things. Then I find scripture to back up what I sense God telling me. Bible time and contemplation, involving sensory pleasure engrosses me and increases my awareness of God.
Some years ago,while I was in the student fellowship on campus, a brother walked up to me and confessed his adventure with masturbation to me. I saw in his eyes the expression of a captive who needed freedom from a tyrant; we then talked and prayed together.Few months now, I couldn’t believe how I have been captured by pornography and masturbation myself. I will stay away asking the Lord to help my thought and then I will find myself going back to my vomit. I need help;I can’t continue like this.
I am blessed about this lesson because i am also struggled to overcome lust. Thank you so much. God bless you.
I have been struggling with lust and pornography for over 7 years
I Have tried so much to stop it but to no avail .please i need a healing of my mind to be able to conquer it
I am 13 years old and I know the Lord savor for myself My mom is helping me with the lessons she brings by me everyday. I listen to her and apply it to my everyday life. What I want to let y’all know is God can use you at any age It’s just that when he calls you don’t run away from it. You have to face it and embrace it. You have to be ready for that change spirituality, mentally, and emotionally. We are all brothers and sisters in christ. In God eyes we are all equal it doesn’t matter about the skin, your language, where your from. The Lord don’t care about that we are all his children and anything that you need to cry out to someone fall on your knees and cry out to the Lord he will hear you.
Hello Luke,
Thanks for such a supportive content and thank you covenant eyes for all you are doing .
I started enjoying porn when I was 14 yrs old. I just thought it was normal thing to do which continued upto the age of 17 when I was born as a christian. I turned towards God because I wanted to be a good person.And I remember upto two years I didn’t look at porn at all. I was succeeding everywhere. And even married a beautiful women whom I loved and am a teacher now. But after I married , I would frequently view erotic materials as an excuse of gaining sexual knowledge but it really turned out that I was hooked to more sexual content time and then. I always repented before God ,grew to be stronger but would eventually fall down before the temptation of my evil desires. I admit it that I sin even when I know that it is wrong to do but once I get a key word or anything that is sexually arousing(girls walking in a street with exposing clothes) I cannot help myself. To get rid of porn , I even learnt violin and am trying my best to get over it but when I feel I have had a victory I eventually fall into trap.
I have read the ebooks , porn circuit , coming clean and every other books from the covenant eyes site but though I haven’t been able to win or resist it .I even went to the pschycologist but all I could get was what it was written in the ebooks
Please , I need help . I am desperate. I want my God to rejoice in my acts not to cry because of me. I know God has caught my hands until today and has given me all I desire but am really scared if someday I will left alone. I don’t want to be away from my God and want to get rid of this filthy thoughts forever. Please help ….*crying*….
Hi, Shree – I’m sorry you’re struggling. I’m Chris McKenna, in the role formerly filled by Luke.
That spirit of shame and disgust is so heavy. But, it wants you to keep secrets and hide the issue because when you do that, the enemy wins. BUT, in the light, and saving Grace-filled love of Jesus, that disgust and shame is crushed. Can you trust anyone to talk with about your struggles? Maybe even a support forum like nofap.com, where you can find other people online who understand and will support you?
Let me direct for a minute. Jesus did not die for us to flounder! It’s time to man-up. Jesus didn’t give the rich man a moment to struggle. He saw his idol and his heart and he told him so. You’re a Christian, so I offer to you that it’s time to put on your suit of armor and instead of seeing this as struggle, look at it as a battlefield. A good soldier wouldn’t go out expecting to die, so get out there and fight and don’t accept anything less than victory. You don’t have to give way to these sins, you choose to. Victory comes moment by moment. Not in life-long promises never to sin again. The enemy loves those promises! “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Be strong! Christ did not die, descend to the depths of hell, conquer death, and rise to glory only to be defeated by your struggle. He overcame the struggle for YOU! Yes, for you. God is for you and will be your strength. But, you must act. Look at Joseph in Egypt – when tempted by Potiphar’s wife, he didn’t stay and ponder the situation. No, he ACTED and RAN! Now is your time. If you still have access to porn through a computer or smartphone, then pitch it. Through the TV? Toss it out the window. Battle.
I hope the best for you, I truly do.
Chris
I have struggled with pornography for years, since I was a kid. It was when we put a computer in our house is when it started. I was so young I didn’t grasp the idea of what all it meant, but I enjoyed seeing girls naked. As I got older & understood it all I was hooked & enjoyed watching the videos & masterbating. Thoughts of girls/women I knew played a big part of my lustful thoughts. I tried & tried & prayed much to be free but I failed over & over for many years. Finally a time came when the Lord saved me when I was in college. For a couple of weeks I never had to fight with the lust I had or actions I did, but there came a day I was not expecting that I was sleeping & woke to movement that I responded to & I have struggled since. I’m married now & we have gone through our fighting of my problem & we found covenant eyes & have been using it for a few years now. I still find myself falling & I hate it. I can’t seem to let go. I know it devistates my wife & she feels like I don’t love her & that I lie to her when I says I love her or she’s beautiful. I do love her & I do find her beautiful. I know that it’s not at the level it could be because my lustful problem has taken some of it. What can help my wife? How can I stop? How can I let go of these chains that hold me down? I pray often that I want to be free, understanding that I may be free but Satan is always going to be throughing temptations in front of me to make me fall. I feel like I have done this for so long knowing it’s wrong that God can’t forgive me. Maybe He has turned me over to a reprobate mind or maybe my conscience has been seered. How do I know if I still have hope?
Hello, Miller – thank you for your honest words. I can sense the struggle and exhaustion in your typing. Let me start here – you still have hope because God’s promises say that there is hope (Romans 15:13 – He is the God of hope!). Do you believe His promises? Jesus did not descend to the depths of hell and conquer death just so that you would continue to struggle! Do you believe in the power of the cross? Or, have you accepted your identity as a porn addict and “that’s the way it will always be!” That is a LIE and we need to call that out for what it is. Pull yourself up and stand victorious in the shadow of the Cross! It is enough! Jesus is your strength! He has conquered your sin and your lust!
Not, “I can’t seem to let go,” but instead, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2) and understand that you CAN let go! Freedom is possible. If I can be direct, get up and start acting like the man you were redeemed to be! Make a clear and effective decision that you will no be defined by this sin. Read this blog post, specifically the rant in the middle, and change what you believe about yourself, the issue, and the power of Jesus.
I’m rooting for you!!! God is for you, too. Be encouraged. Have hope!
Chris
i had a trinity of issue- Masterbation, porn and lust. i successfully fought the first the.
first two. Now the last 1 is what m fighting. But each time i try hard, i end up having sex with that beautiful lady. if i aviod her, i a week or two i get hooked to another beautiful lady. i need his Grace to save me. I need to fight this once and be done. i have to follow Christ with a pure heart
Really helpful to overcome lust, temptation, and masturbation, thank you so much, in the name of Christ I will defeat these lustful thoughts and ways .
I was searching on google about lust because I was feeling troubled about how quickly I find myself attracted to females. I am constantly repenting as I browse the internet or watch tv or walk around places with females, etc.
I think something nice to do after falling because of those sins you guys are talking about is to fast and set up structures of what you can do next time you feel tempted again.
For instance, you can set up a non-binding rule(that you can try to follow) that next time you feel tempted to commit that certain sin of watching sexual videos you will get off the computer and go take a shower, or if you are feeling tempted while on your phone you will put the phone away, etc. As long as you are feeling tempted consider yourself in “time out mode” from the tv or computer or phone or whatever it is that will give you access to porn.
We have been givin a wonderful hope to look forward to. Jesus is a mighty teacher. I wish everyone who has commented here blessings. Take care and pray for me if you read this and want to. Bye.