Medication Cannot Fix Your Lust Problem

We received an email from a young man, twenty one years old who is struggling with his sex drive - no surprise for a twenty one year old - and I guess someone has suggested to him that psychotropic drugs may be a solution to his problem. How would you respond to that?

Well I would respond from scripture, like I would with any kind of an issue that comes up in life like this. In 2 Peter 1, Peter made a couple interesting statements that I think we should take a look at. He said this:

“seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

OK now that's a mouthful and I understand that. But I do want to say a couple of things about this. First of all, I need to say that I believe this statement is true. With all my heart I believe it's true, not only because the Bible says it, but also because it's my testimony. It's something that I have experienced and I've seen lived out in the lives of many people. God has what every believer needs. That's not just cheap preacher talk or something, it's the reality of anyone who has a life with God. Peter promises us here that God's power will provide everything we need to make it in life. We have to decide do we really believe that. I mean that's really what it boils down to. When we hear these kind of promises made in Scripture, we have to decide "Do I really believe what the Bible is saying."

Personally, the idea of a Christian needing to take drugs to live in victory is absolutely preposterous to me. It shows me - and it's not surprising for a twenty one year old - but it shows me that this young man does not yet know what it means to have the power of God in his inner life. If he will a establish a strong devotional life, not only will he find that there is power to live victoriously in Christ, but it will give him a wonderful opportunity to ask God for a greater infilling of the Holy Spirit.

One of the things that I see in his email is that he is so focused on the sex drive. Of course most guys that are twenty one years old - I mean probably in their teenage years and up - very often, that is exactly what they're focused on. So there's more here that Peter is saying about that focus isn't there?

Well he's overwhelmed, you know? And like you say, a lot of young people do become overwhelmed when their hormones are raging inside. But you know, I want to say this, that when God becomes large in a person's heart and in his daily life and in his mind - large in the sense that he's spending time with him; he's connected to the vine - then problems become much smaller and much more manageable. And you know, when you're just kind of living in the flesh, of course your problems are going to be overwhelming.

Now in his email he said that he wants to reduce the sex drive. So are we saying that if he develops that relationship with the Lord - if his focus is on his life in the Lord - are those going to go away?

No, his sex drive is what it is. I mean it's a physical thing that he has to deal with. But what does come into play is the power to be able to deal with it in the right way. You know, that's what he's missing now. All he's focused on is the sex drive, but he's not seeing the power of God at work in his inner-man.

Of course one of the things that fights against young men who want to go on the right path with this issue is that the culture is saying that you are a captive to these desires, that you can't possibly not give-in to these desires. In fact, the culture teaches you're abnormal if you don't give-in to these desires.

Right. Also one of the problems that is raised is the fact that really they're more plugged-in with the world and the pagan culture we live in than they are to the things of God. So of course when you're more plugged-in to that strong heavy message coming across television and the Internet and so on, that's going to shape your thinking and your belief system; and it's going to strengthen the unbelief that's already in you.

And for a young man or even for a young woman, this really is - if you look at it right - a wonderful opportunity to prove the faithfulness of God in your own life.

Yes it is a wonderful opportunity to glorify God in your body. You know, what a message it sends to young people around you today who are just totally given over to the things of this world, the flesh, sex, and all of it; and to be able to stand strong and say "Listen I'm not into that. My life means something more than that."