Having learned of lust thus far, how can we overcome lust? I believe the underlying principle for us to overcome it, is revealed in a native Cherokee Indian story. A boy went to his grandfather and told him that he is always angry. The grandfather told the boy that sometimes he is angry and upset, and sometimes he is happy. The grandfather went on to say that sometimes he feels like there are two wolves in his heart. One is always angry, gives in to fear, and always wants to fight. The other is always happy, peaceful, loving and just wants to make friends. And both wolves are always battling in his heart. The boy asked his grandfather which of the wolves wins the fight. The grandfather said, “The one I feed.”
There is a war going on in us between our flesh and our spirit. The one you feed determines who wins the fight. If you feed your flesh, lust will control you. If you feed your spirit, you will control lust. The following scriptures validate this:
For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life (Galatians 6:8 NKJV).
If you sow to your flesh you will stimulate your lusts and they will corrupt you. If you sow to your spirit you will live the God-kind of life. You will experience the lifestyle God has for you and benefit from the privileges that come with living the Zoe—the God-kind of life.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16 NKJV).
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves (NLT).
But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God)( AMP).
In order to feed your spirit and starve your flesh, you have to position yourself with people and in places that lift up your spirit. And this will be accomplished when you let the Holy Spirit lead you. Furthermore, feeding yourself with God’s Word will enhance and motivate your spirit. When this happens, the Spirit of God through the Word of God will instruct you to avoid or leave Gaza.
In other words avoid people and places that stimulate your flesh. Unplug the power supply to your flesh. Stay away from people that influence you in the wrong direction. Stay away from places that instigate you to yield to your lusts.
Stay away from every kind of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22 NLT).
Avoid every kind of evil (NIV).
Abstain from every form of evil (NKJV).
To avoid simply means to create a void. Therefore when you avoid something, someone, or someplace, you create a void between you and the thing, person or place. However, that void needs to be filled with God’s Word. If not, the void will be filled with the old junk and you will be back in the same lusts you were before, and even worse off.
Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41 NKJV)
…Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”(MSG)
Prayer helps us avoid entering temptation. If we don’t pray, we will be susceptible to entering temptation. We will be vulnerable to going to Gaza. Dr. Joyce Meyer once said, “Temptation may come to you, but don’t go to it.”
Maybe you are already in Gaza. Maybe you are already in an environment and with a person that arouses your lusts. In this case you have to flee from that environment. Take off!
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts (2 Timothy 2:22 NLT).
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (NIV).
That scripture highlights a vital process that God uses to deliver us from ungodly situations. There are two parts to this process. God delivers us from, and delivers us to. Unfortunately, someone might allow God to deliver him or her from something or someone, but not allow God to deliver him or her to something or someone else better for us. God delivers us from darkness and delivers us to light.
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, (Colossians 1:13 NLT)
He delivers us from lust and delivers us to righteousness, faith, love and peace, and to people who live for God. If we don’t allow God to do the second part of the deliverance process, it will be a matter of time for us to back-track into the things that He delivered us from.
When we feed our spirits by feeding ourselves with God’s Word, being led by the Holy Spirit, avoiding or cutting ourselves off from the wrong things, wrong people, and wrong places, then we can bear the fruit below.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT)
If you noticed, part of the fruit above is self-control. Feeding your spirit will give you control over your lusts. You can’t stop your flesh from having lusts because they are part of your human nature, however you can control your lusts. And once again, controlling yourself by feeding your spirit with God’s Word, obeying the Holy Spirit, praying, and avoiding all evil will help you overcome lust.