Lust and love are complete opposites, and lust often replaces love. One of love’s definitions is "unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another" (Webster’s). The Bible says, "love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

Lust is not kind, lust envies, lust behaves rudely, lust seeks all for its own, lust thinks evil, lust rejoices in sin, lust perverts the truth, lust bears nothing outside of its own pursuit of fulfillment. Lust hopes only in its own gratification. Lust cares only for itself. It will hurt, deceive, destroy, lie and anything else it has to do to sustain itself.

The major difference between lust and love is that love is a selfless concern for another person, where lust is totally self-focused. Lust believes the lie Satan has crafted. The lie suggests, "If you do this thing, you will be satisfied deeply." The truth is that doing so will only lead to dissatisfaction and desire for more. Lust keeps growing and choking the person who feeds it.

"Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place".

That isn't true, of course, but there is enough truth in it to be funny. And it kinda distills down one aspect of the difference between love and lust. Perhaps it is Satan at work, but there are times when its hard to tell them apart. For me, love can sometimes appear an awful lot like lust. And vice versa.

I'm not much of a romantic, which is a shame I suppose. I'm even less of a romantic after dealing with affair recovery. Definitions of love that focus on concern for another person come closer to my view of love than definitions that involve wide-eyed romance. I don't mind if other people like romance and want to write love poems and be romantic. That's okay by me. But it's not really my tea cup.

Love is action.

There are lots of ways to take that, and they all apply.



Chris.

That’s a good contrast of the difference between love and lust.

I would like to add that love is so much more than lust. It is like a full pale of water compared to an empty one. They may look the same from a distance but one is just a shell.

The problem in our society is that lust is always in our faces and love is seldom seen and harder to recognize.

SELFISHNESS....That reminds me of something that a lady said to me at my Chiropracter's office the other day: The receptionist was putting out new mags and was telling me that she like those tabloid mags and showed me the cover of one with Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. It was about their break up and possible divorce. I aksed the receptionship if she knew why they broke up because I did not read a lot of tabloids? The lady sitting across from me blurted out "selfishness". She went on to say that she is a marriage counselor and "you can be assured that it is selfishness, I dont even have to read the article or know them". She said "All couples that divorce end the marriage because one or both are selfish. Love and commitment are about selflessness, infidelity and divorce are the opposite of that which is selfishness. Couples who listen to each other, care about each other, and compromise are not selfish. And that is what it takes to make marriage work." I just sat there thinking this lady is so right! Maybe I want her as my counsleor. I was so tempted to ask her for her card. Maybe I should have. In fact it is her comments that prompted me to post "Lust Vs. Love"...selfishness and selflessness.

BTW~ I liked your analogy Mike

Take Care,
Carol~