How do you beat lust as a Christian?

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How do you beat lust as a Christian? Growing up, we hear, "Don't have sex before marriage because you can get STDs and die." Or, "Don't look at stuff you shouldn't on the internet because you'll get a virus on your computer and it'll crash." But, does it actually stop people? No, because people are smart and it's easy to figure out ways around that. So, how do you actually stop? Well, I found three proven ways on how to beat lust from the only source we can actually believe. The Bible. First, you remember that story of David, the guy that used a slingshot to take down Goliath, the one the Bible says was a man after God's own heart? And yet, David lusted. In the Bible, it says, "One night when he should have been sleeping, he got out of bed and looked at something he shouldn't have looked at, another woman naked who wasn't his wife." Now, he could have easily gone back to bed, but not only was he tempted to keep looking, he decided to take action and mess around. And that's not uncommon for someone to do. I mean, the Bible says, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind." But, here's the thing, if a man after God's own heart couldn't resist temptation, how can we? Well, in that same verse, it says, "God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But, when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure." We saw that David had a way out. He saw the naked woman, but instead of deciding to just go back to bed, he took action. So, the first way on how to beat temptation, look for the way out that God has provided. According to the Bible, there will always be one. The real question is, how do we see that more clearly instead of being so focused on the temptation? Well, the Bible also says, "Where there is no revelation," which means vision from God, "people cast off restraint." So, God may give us that option, but if we don't actually see it as an actual option, we will cast off restraint and just do the thing. So, how do we get vision from God? Well, going back to David's story, not only did he mess around, but that woman got pregnant and she was already married. So, then instead of admitting his mistake, he tried to cover up the problem. So, how did David get vision from God to be set free from this path of sinning? Well, God sent a man with a story specifically for David. Said, "Hey, look at this other person's story and see how they saw something they wanted and they made the decision to act on it taking it for themselves." Well, the Bible says, "David burned with anger against the man from the story. As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die." And then the man telling the story says, "You are that man." David finally got vision from God and said, "I have sinned against the Lord." So, how do we get vision from God to not cast off restraint? Well, this is an example of that. We have a story from the word of God that could help us have vision and perspective. And the Bible is full of stories like this. So, by reading some of these stories, God will give us vision to not only see the way out when God presents it to us, but to beat it with a third thing, Jesus. When we confess with our mouths and believe in him, he sends us the Holy Spirit, the helper, so that when facing temptation, we can remember the words of God, get vision, change direction, and have the power to say, "No to sin," with the helper, the Holy Spirit. It's not easy, but with God, it's possible. Praying for you today, friends. God bless.