Lust and an OT wife

UPDATED
Hi All. Sorry to be missing in action the better part of a week. But I had two sicks kids, and then a speaking engagement trip to Virgina last weekend that I took the whole family on this time. It was good to get away together for a few days. Family must always come first, y'all know that I hope. Nonetheless, I've been missing you, and my blog, and remembering your great comments and verses about lust.

The topic for last weekend's retreat was Breathe Deep, which is a whole different topic but it had us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 at one point. In the beginning of that chapter it reads:

"Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives." (vs.1-7)

Ever wondered what God's will for you is? It says right there "to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin." As some of the earlier commenters said, FLEE from it! Don't mess around on the slippery slope of lust.

Daydreaming, staring, flirting, turning another man's head can all feel good to a woman, but it is playing with fire. As Proverbs 6:27-28 asks, "Can someone scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can someone walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?" So it is when we allow ourselves to lust after someone we shouldn't.

There is an Old Testament case of a woman who didn't exercise self-control over her lust. It was the wife of Potiphar and she had a thing for the handsome Joseph. Ever read her story? You can follow this link to read it online in Genesis 39-41.

Mrs. Potipher didn't just have an oh-wow-he's really-hot moment and then move on. She didn't just have a wonder-what-it's-like-to-be-his-girl thought, that she then took captive and refocused on her husband. No, she looked lustfully upon Joseph day after day, and obsessed about him in her mind. She tried to attract him and seduce him. In fact, she propositioned him, and more than once. He resisted.

She did not flee from sexual immorality ... she sent it a hand-written, personal invitation to move into her heart and set up shop. And once it did, things went very downhill from there. Follow this link if you want to read my earlier discussion of her during last year's online Bible study.

She may have thought she was in love with Joseph, I don't know, but none of her actions towards him demonstrated love. Love is patient, kind, and does not envy what it does not have. Love is not rude or pushy, not self-seeking. Nor is it easily angered, or punishing. (see 1 Cor. 13:4-5) She may have wanted some "lovin" from Joseph but her actions toward him were the exact opposite of loving - every single one of them. The. Exact. Opposite.

BTW, a few commenters had said that sometimes looking at another man doesn't make them want him so much as it makes them wish their husbands were like him. I get that - and technically that may not be the same thing as lusting, or maybe it is. What do you think? Either way its still something we have to be careful of because of the love does not envy what it does not have thing. I think it is still like heaping hot coals into your lap because it grows our discontentment with our own spouse.

I'm curious if anyone can think of another example of female lust in the Bible?