These are six tested and proven strategies for fighting lust. I have
in mind men and women. For men it’s obvious. The need for warfare
against the bombardment of visual temptation to fixate on sexual images
is urgent. For women it is less obvious, but just as great if we broaden
the scope of temptation to food or figure or relational fantasies. When
I say “lust” I mean the realm of thought, imagination, and desire that
leads to sexual misconduct. So here is one set of strategies in the war
against wrong desires. I put it in the form of an acronym, A N T H E M.

A – Avoid as much as is possible and reasonable the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire.

I say “possible and reasonable” because some exposure to temptation
is inevitable. And I say “unfitting desire” because not all desires for
sex, food, and family are bad. We know when they are unfitting and
unhelpful and on their way to becoming enslaving. We know our weaknesses
and what triggers them. “Avoiding” is a biblical strategy. “Flee
youthful passions and pursue righteousness” (2 Timothy 2:22). “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

N – Say “No” to every lustful thought within five seconds.

And say it with the authority of Jesus Christ. “In the name of Jesus,
NO!” You don’t have much more than five seconds. Give it more unopposed
time than that, and it will lodge itself with such force as to be
almost immovable. Say it out loud if you dare. Be tough and warlike. As
John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Strike fast
and strike hard. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

T – Turn the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction.

Saying “no” will not suffice. You must move from defense to offense.
Fight fire with fire. Attack the promises of sin with the promises of
Christ. The Bible calls lusts “deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22). They lie. They promise more than they can deliver. The Bible calls them “passions of your former ignorance” (1 Peter 1:14). Only fools yield. “All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter” (Proverbs 7:22).
Deceit is defeated truth. Ignorance is defeated knowledge. It
must be glorious truth and beautiful knowledge. This is why I wrote Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ.
We must stock our minds with the superior promises and pleasures of
Jesus. Then we must turn to them immediately after saying, “NO!”

H – Hold the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out.

Fix your eyes on Jesus (see Hebrews 12:2).
Here is where many fail. They give in too soon. They say, “I tried to
push it out, and it didn’t work.” I ask, “How long did you try? How hard
did you exert your mind?” The mind is a muscle. You can flex it with
vehemence. Take the kingdom violently (Matthew 11:12).
Be brutal. Hold the promise of Christ before your eyes. Hold it. Hold
it! Don’t let it go! Keep holding it! How long? As long as it takes.
Fight! For Christ’s sake, fight till you win! If an electric garage door
were about to crush your child, you would hold it up with all your
might and holler for help, and hold it and hold it and hold it and hold
it.

E – Enjoy a superior satisfaction.

Cultivate the capacities for pleasure in Christ. One reason lust
reigns in so many is that Christ has so little appeal. We default to
deceit because we have little delight in Christ. Don’t say, “That’s just
not me.” What steps have you taken to waken affection for Jesus? Have
you fought for joy? Don’t be fatalistic. You were created to treasure
Christ with all your heart — more than you treasure sex or sugar. If you
have little taste for Jesus, competing pleasures will triumph. Plead
with God for the satisfaction you don’t have: “Satisfy us in the morning
with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days”
(Psalm 90:14). Then look, look, and look at the most magnificent Person in the universe until you see him the way he is.

M – Move into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors.

Lust grows fast in the garden of leisure. Find a good work to do, and
do it with all your might. “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in
spirit, serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11). “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Abound in work. Get up and do something. Sweep a room. Hammer a nail.
Write a letter. Fix a faucet. And do it for Jesus’s sake. You were made
to manage and create. Christ died to make you “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). Displace deceitful lusts with a passion for good deeds.

Credit/Source: DesiringGod.org

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