Jesus was crystal clear about lust: Don’t even let your eyes wander.

Matthew 5:27-28
“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Some people think that if lustful thoughts are sin, then why not go ahead and act on them, right?  Here are four ways that acting out sinful desires is harmful:

It causes people to sin, instead of stop sinning.  Jesus isn’t about giving a green light to sin, so why compound a sin by acting on it?  Your life should assist people in relieving sin, not making it worse.

It destroys marriages.  And it sends ripples through generations.

It is deliberate rebellion against God’s Word.  In Exodus 20:14, one of the commandments reads, “You must not commit adultery.”  That’s pretty clear to me.

It always hurts someone else in addition to the sinner.  It can be easy to think that you’re the only one who may suffer from acting on a lustful desire.  Not true.  It takes two to tango and that is the minimum who will feel the hurt of acting out of lust.

Left unchecked, sinful desires will result in wrong actions and turn people from God.