How to flee youthful lust is one of the bible teachings that I have decided to post under the ‘What is Christianity? Section of this website. We have been able to adapt it as a blog post for you.
It’s an interesting topic and I would be very happy if you can take your time to study the note effectively and also recommend this post to anyone you think would want to learn how to flee youthful lust.
Title of this teaching: How to flee youthful lust
As I already mentioned, the title is how to flee youthful lust and the Bible text is Galatians 5:16-18.
[16]I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
[17]For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
[18]But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Introduction to how to flee youthful lust
Man is made up of the spirit, soul and body (the flesh). All the parts of man are useful to man but the spirit of man is the real man. Jesus came, died and resurrected fulfilling the salvation project so that our spirit can come alive to God again after the unfortunate event in the Garden of Eden when Adam sinned against God.
So after a man is born again, His spirit comes alive to God. The Holy Spirit of God also begins to relate with our now alive spirit on a regular basis as we have it in this scripture below:
Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
This is a very useful relationship that can always help man to live above sinful lust.
What is lust?
We need to define this.
According to the Wikipedia website,
Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power.
The definition above is good and it’s a good pointer to what lust is. But I would like to state what I call a Christian definition:
Lust is intense desire for anything that will not improve man’s cordial relationship with God almighty. Usually, the lust that is not controlled lead to sin.
It’s intense desire. It’s usually a selfish desire. It’s usually a sinful desire for something like sex, money or power.
The role of the flesh
The flesh (the third part or man) plays a very important role in this. The flesh or the body houses man’s spirit. The flesh usually wants to do everything opposite to what our born again spirits wants. If the flesh is not put under subjection, it will always make us sin against God.
Even with all the anointing of Paul, he said,
1 Corinthians 9:27
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Even Paul had to put his flesh under subjection, we have to do it too. Jesus said to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. … The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
That also showed how the flesh works against the spirit.
Related: How to stop sinful habits (a definitive guide)
What is youthful lust?
We have been able to see what lust is and how the flesh is a major factor for lust. So it should be easy for us to see what youthful lust is.
Youthful lust are the types of intense desires that come as a result of our youthful status. The youth usually want to do some things that are far beyond them because they are still agile and they still have that natural abilities.
Usually, most of these negative intense desires lead to sins against God. We have a lot of examples today of how the youth get it wrong in the area of sex, relationship, making money etc.
What does it mean to flee from youthful lust?
The bible ask us to flee from all appearance of evil. Flee is a stronger word than run. I believe the use of the word, flee was intentional. When you notice an appearance of evil or anything that you know will lead you into sinning against God, you don’t just need to walk away or run, you must flee!
That represents a basic instruction I give to Christians on this. But we will still look at a step-by-step guide on how to flee youthful lust in the remaining part of this post.
How do you flee from youthful lust
Let us start from our bible text:
Galatians 5:16-18
[16]I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
[17]For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
[18]But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Related: Gain free access to exciting problem-solving Christian online courses
1. You must be born again.
You have to be a child of God. The bible text shows you have to walk in the Spirit to overcome lust. But you can’t walk in the Spirit if you are not born again. If you are not born again, you need to say the salvation prayer immediately. Please visit this page to say this important prayer.
2. You must become baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues:
Jesus is rhe baptizer in the Holy Ghost. Ask Him to baptize you with His Spirit. He did that to the disciples at pentecost in the book of Acts.
3. Study the Word of God:
Walking in the Spirit also involves becoming a diligent student of the Word of God. God’s Word helps you to grow in God. The bible says in 2 Timothy 2:15,
“Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
When you study the Word, you know what is right or wrong. When the wrong appears on the scene, you want to flee from it. Studying God’s Word gives you spiritual strength to put your body under subjection.
4. You must be prayerful:
Jesus recommended prayer to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. … The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
In fact, He recommended that on many occasions during His stay with them. He taught them the Lord’s prayer. He also demonstrated this by also praying without ceasing Himself. A Christian must love the prayer platform. It’s a place of receiving strength.
5. Avoid evil association:
The bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:33,
“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”
If you keep sinful friends, you will always find it difficult to flee youthful lust. You will always be influenced in the wrong way. You need to keep good friends. You need association with friends who can always help you to grow spiritually.
6. Sow to the Spirit always:
In Galatians 6:8, we read,
“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.”
If you always sow to the flesh, you will always be troubled with lust and sinful habits. You will always be at their mercies. But if you learn to sow to the Spirit, you are always setting yourself up to overcome lust and sinful habits. Some of the tips shared above show you how to sow to the Spirit.
7. Improving relationship with the Holy Spirit:
Finally, you can always fight and win battles like how to flee youthful lust and any spiritual battle if you ensure you are always having an improving relationship with the Holy Spirit of God and His Word as we have it in the bible. These are relationships you can’t toy with. I pray that you will receive the grace to keep a healthy and improving relationship with the Holy Spirit of God and His Word in Jesus name. Amen.
Please let me read from you on what you think about how to flee youthful lust. I would be happy if you can share this post with your friends on social media.
