What is a fatal attraction? To understand this I looked up the words “fatal” and “attraction.” I discovered that something is fatal when it is deadly or capable of causing death, destruction, misfortune, ruin or failure. I also learned that an attraction is a person or thing that draws, attracts, allures or entices. It is also a characteristic or quality that provides pleasure.

Therefore when we combine the two words, a fatal attraction is a person or thing that draws, attracts, allures, entices and is deadly. A fatal attraction is a characteristic or quality that provides pleasure and is capable of causing death, destruction, misfortune, ruin or failure.

A number of things can fit the description of a fatal attraction. But the number one thing that comes to mind that accurately depicts a fatal attraction is lust. Lust is a passionate or overwhelming desire or craving. The Greek word translated as lust in the Bible is epithumia. Young’s concordance describes epithumia as over desire, Strong’s describes this as a longing; especially for something that is forbidden. It also describes it as an evil desire.

But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death (James 1:14-15 AMP).

The scripture above shows us at least two things:

1. We all have lusts. It’s in our eyes and our flesh (1 John 2:16).

For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do (Galatians 5:17 AMP).

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT).

More often than not, when people think of lust they think of the big three: sex, alcohol and drugs. But lust includes a whole lot more than them. As the scriptures above reveal, idolatry (worshipping of idols, whether things or people), quarrelling, hostility, uncontrolled anger, wild parties, selfish ambitions, lust for power, recognition or attention are all lusts of the flesh.

2. Lust progresses in three stages. Apparently we lust in three stages, which I’ll like to call LSD (Lust, Sin, Death):

a. Lust draws us away and entices us.

Because we have lusts in our flesh, we are going to be drawn to something or someone. That thing or person that we are drawn to may or may not be good for us. Notwithstanding, the lusts in our flesh will cause us to be drawn. There is nothing wrong with this; and there is nothing you can do about the lusts that are part of our human nature.

Even so, it’s one thing to be drawn; it’s another thing to be drawn away. This is where we get in trouble; when we are drawn away. If we don’t exercise proper self control we will be drawn away. We are tempted and enticed when we are drawn away from God’s will, God’s Word, our responsibilities, our purpose or from what is right. If we don’t control ourselves, ourselves (lust in us) will control us and lead us to the next stage—sin.

b. It conceives and gives birth to sin.

Sin goes through its own progression and then leads to death.

c. Sin when it has fully grown gives birth to death.

I’ve learned that death is a systematic breakdown of an organism or organization until it ceases to exist. More often than not we think of death as someone suddenly dying or collapsing to death. This is actually the end of death. True death is systematic and gradual. We can see this in Adam and Eve.

They yielded to the lust of their flesh and it gave birth to sin, which gave birth to the death of mankind. The minute we are born we begin to die. In Adam’s time, people were dying at around 900 years plus. Now people are dying naturally around 70 to 90. Furthermore, Adam and Eve’s story gives us a glimpse of the LSD process. Satan exploited the lust of Eve’s eyes and her flesh to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before Eve ate the fruit she looked at the tree and saw that it was desirable to make one wise, then she ate (Genesis 3:1-6).

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it (Genesis 3:6 NIV).

By eating she sinned; so did her husband. Then they died. They didn’t collapse immediately, but we see that death was imminent spiritually, and gradual physically. Their lusts led to their sin, which led to their death. Satan used lust to draw Adam and Eve away from the tree of life so that they could eat from the forbidden tree. Similarly he uses lust to draw us away from our Tree of Life, Jesus, to lead us to sin, then to our deaths or separations; whether of our marriages, businesses, relationships or purposes.