Is Sexual Desire for a Woman, Sin?

[Crosswalk711]

When Jesus spoke of 'lust' in Matthew 5, he was speaking specifically to married men. He was saying that if a man were to covet a woman that is NOT his wife, then he is already committing adultery with her in his heart.

However, Jesus was not speaking to unmarried men. God expects unmarried men to have sexual desire for women because they are still searching for that right spouse.

Questions for debate:
Is it a sin for an unmarried man to have sexual desire for women? If so, how?
What is your definition of lust?

[Nicole]

When Jesus spoke of 'lust' in Matthew 5, he was speaking specifically to married men. He was saying that if a man were to covet a woman that is NOT his wife, then he is already committing adultery with her in his heart.

However, Jesus was not speaking to unmarried men. God expects unmarried men to have sexual desire for women because they are still searching for that right spouse.

Questions for debate:
Is it a sin for an unmarried man to have sexual desire for women? If so, how?
What is your definition of lust?

I started laughing when I read your post. Not because it's funny, but because I was just thinking about the exact same topic. Although I was thinking about the answer.
My parents were talking about how great the book Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage by Mark Gungor is (website here). In this book, Gungor describes the traditional Jewish idea of sexual desire. The Hebrew people believed sexual intimacy was the glue that held a marriage together. Sexual intimacy is the only thing that sets a marriage apart from friendship. So desire is important to look for.

But I don't think lust is. Jesus said that if a man lusts after a woman who is not his wife, he has committed adultery. For single men, any woman is not your wife. So I believe that verse applies to you as well. Lust is not only a sin against God, but against your own body (I Cor. 6:18-20).

I would define lust as imagining anything about a woman that should only happen between you and your wife. In other words, limit your thoughts to the type of touch good friends enjoy, or between parent and child.

It's easy to tell whether you are attracted to a woman without lusting after her. But honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are looking for a wife, you will naturally check out those you find attractive and unconsciously cross off the list the women that you don't find attractive. The bottom line: If you can easily imagine heading to the alter with a girl, you will have no problems with the desire factor.

[Yahu]

When Jesus spoke of 'lust' in Matthew 5, he was speaking specifically to married men. He was saying that if a man were to covet a woman that is NOT his wife, then he is already committing adultery with her in his heart.

However, Jesus was not speaking to unmarried men. God expects unmarried men to have sexual desire for women because they are still searching for that right spouse.

Questions for debate:
Is it a sin for an unmarried man to have sexual desire for women? If so, how?
What is your definition of lust?

No sexual desire is not sin it is based on the desire to follow God's command to be fruitful and multiply. It is when desire is taken to an extreme and acted upon in some evil faction that it becomes lust and sin.

Fantasizing about an individual is performing the act within your mind showing a willingness to perform that act if given the importunity. So fantasizing about a married woman shows a willingness to commit adultery.

What was forbidden in the law was taking a girl's virginity and not marrying her, taking another man's wife or committing rape or incest. Having desire isn't sin IMHO, it is acting upon it to violate one of the sexual laws even if you just violate it in your mind.

[McCulloch]

I'm not sure I follow you. Are you saying that Jesus and Paul teach that it is wrong for a man to desire a woman sexually?

I do not believe that Jesus and Paul were always in agreement. Jesus, as far as I can tell, did not see sexual attraction between a husband and wife to be wrong. Paul, on the other hand, seems to find all sexual distractions inadvisable, however having it within marriage is less bad than outside of marriage.

Paul writing to Timothy (who is an unmarried bishop) recommending that he urge women to dress modestly and behave virtuously so that men will be attracted to them for the right reasons (sexual attractiveness + virtue) rather than concentrating on enhancing their sexual attractiveness with skimpy clothing, fancy hairdos, and expensive jewelry.

Is there any support for the assertion that Timothy was an unmarried bishop? Is there any biblical support allowing for unmarried bishops?

[David 2.0]

Is it a sin for an unmarried man to have sexual desire for women? If so, how?

Great, now you are going to tell me that breathing is a sin?
Honestly, I can't help it.


Generaly the things I have no desire for, I do not do.

[OpiatefortheMasses]

Fundamentally, we're all still animals and lust or sexual desire is completely natural. To call lusting after a woman a sin is like calling hunger a sin in my opinion. It's part of our nature. The only real difference between us and other animals in this regard is that we have the ability to attach guilt to it.