The Seven Deadly Sins: Lust

The Seven Deadly Sins isn't simply a lackluster anime with the most entertaining character being a man named Escanor. I am referring to what is sins listed as the most dangerous among a hierarchy, if such a thing exists, of sins. To define sin we must inquire about its nature. Naturally, sin is the lack or privation of good but has identifiable characteristics. It devolves into the idea of will and action, with those qualities being specific to any individual who does an act deemed immoral by some form of authority. Authority and ethics are interlocked due to the grounding of moral values being in something outside of the principles being studied. Typically one must go outside themselves in order to identify this authority. If one were to say that they themselves are the authority in question, we eventually begin the carousel ride of circular reasoning. If I were to ask this hypothetical person, "How do you know epistemologically something is wrong?" the reply can vary depending on the prudential system in which they allocate authority. One may say that they are in control or say I know something is wrong because I believe it to be wrong. So why is it wrong? Well because I feel it is wrong. So why do you feel it to be wrong? Because it is wrong. See where I am going with this? If X identifies Y and Y identifies X we have epistemological circularity. Identifiable characteristics of wrong are subject to observational discrimination due to the inability to ground some form of authority. I, as a Christian, ground the idea of ethics firmly in divine simplicity in which God, being identical to his attributes such as moral perfection, thus informs ethical decisions. Any delineation from that highest good falls into the category of sin. Since we know goods from the attributes of God like love, justice, holiness, etc. we can know the antithesis of these virtues. The vice we are going to look at is lust.

Now which attribute exists inversely to that of lust? Likely I would range the contrast of lust to be satisfaction in combination with proper jealousy. Interestingly enough, jealousy is seen as a characteristic of God. Now lust being thought of as an insatiable appetite to obtain something that isn't already in possession leads me to define it as such: lust is trying to obtain an increased sort of external affairs thinking it will change the internal state of the person. Most of the time this is associated with sexual desire but I think it is not simply sexual desire. It can range among a spectrum of desires that have a psychological effect on the experimenter. For instance, the euphoria after a climax may cause the typical behavior among those who are called lustful to become reinforced to realms in which the person needs more stimulation in order to have the same effect. The venturing to obtain that sort of affair can cause the person to look or take things that are not theirs in order to fulfill that internal desire.

Lust I see as a quivering spirit, one of which a man is crippled due to his desire being too weak, not too strong. The rightful man looks for the beloved on which he can strive and obtain. The warmth he seeks is not for his own good but for the good of all those whom he may be loving towards. The opposite of love is lust. Why must I venture to say that lust is the antithesis? A man may bring to himself his own satisfaction, a love of the self, but to his own delusion, uses strength to look upon the precipice on which the beloved stands to reach out and say, "cast yourself down from atop of the temple and I will give you the world!" No longer is the thought that the temple is to be built before worship can occur. Love is the temple, lust is the attempt to circumvent the process and build a golden calf on which to worship with a feeble heart. The desire for lust is not to lord over something but to be governed by it. To relinquish control and toss away all matters of design and be controlled because fighting it has become an encumbering task; the man in which lust hastens him to be the host of a parasite. For in thinking that he is feasting truly he has become regaled upon.

Lust rests surely as a technique in the enslavement of the soul of men. It truly is an assured method to overcome those who boast of being strong. Those who say I am greater than this sin that is the killer of many men is truly the height of folly. The two pronged trouble that lies with this foe is that it preys upon what you so wish to come true. It is difficult to recognize until it is too late. The aroma of lust's pheremones tempts men to the sweetness of a fruit that is truly bitter upon the taste. Like the eyes of a predator, the seductress looks about seeking whom will become the next victim.

The reason that lust is effective is the fact that it preys on so many apetites. A hunger that as one eats the hunger grows. The cycle continues because the item being eaten can never fill. It is a cup that has a small muster that can never overflow so what is the answer to this problem of lust. Who can free us from the thorns that wrap around the heart of man?

The answer is the one who had thorns wrapped around his head. The reasoning behind this is that the appetite spoken of prior can never run dry in Christ. Like it was spoken in John 4, he is the well that never runs dry and gives to all that are thirsty a way in which they will thirst no more. Can we dry up eternity? Can we cause the necessary to be overtaken? By his very nature, he cannot be overtaken by our desires so by making the eternal our highest desire, there is no room for lust to have a foothold. The appetite is full on the bread of life, so why go try to find more to eat when plenty is already offered? What must be done is to come to the table.

"A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves." Luke 22:24-27