What, then, is lust? When I am hungry, I may eat—and eat with
pleasure; this is an urge for food, not a lust.
But if I am hungry and
have nothing to eat, and then think of stealing food from others, that
is lust. Or if I eat indulgently; that also is lust. To think of eating is
an urge; to steal to eat or to eat wantonly is lust.
We Christians eat when food is available. I often think that not
only do we not steal or rob, we do not even think of stealing or
robbing. This is according to the teaching of Matthew 5. There is no
lustful act, nor is there any lustful thought. When I see food, I like to
eat; when I eat, I feel the food is tasty. This is the urge for food. It is
created by God and has not a taint of sin in it. Where does sin come
in then? It is when I have nothing to eat and think of stealing food.
This is lust produced by the urge for food. By extending the urge for
food into a desire to steal or rob, the urge has become a lust. In the
Old Testament it says, “Thou shalt not steal” (Ex. 20:15). But in the
New Testament a Christian who is hungry and has nothing to eat not
only should not steal but also should not even think of stealing.
Stealing is a lust, and so is thinking of stealing a lust.