Dating your spouse

Lust when a misdirected desire – is being used as a weapon against the church, marriage and family

A common modern dictionary meaning of lust is:
“Lust is defined as a very strong sexual desire or an intense longing for something. It can also refer to passionate desires for various things, such as power or food.”
However in many mindsets the meaning of lust is sexual temptation
Scripture uses the word “lust” more broadly than modern dictionaries.

Scripture reveals to us the truth of the meaning of “lust”. Within the Old Testament there are two words which are translated to “lust” by some translators – the Hebrew word. תַּאֲוָה ṯa’ăwâ [Strongs h8378] is sometimes translated as “lust,” sometimes as “craving” or “desire.” It is used some 21 times within the Old Testament reflecting the breadth of human longing—from the holy yearning for the LORD’s name (Isaiah 26:8) to destructive cravings that bring judgment (Numbers 11:4)

Another word is חָמַד chamad [Strong’s Hebrew: 2530] — to desire, take pleasure in. Chamad is first used In Genesis 2:9 where it is used for what is “pleasant” and then used in the Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet.” Within the New Testament the Greek

The ABS issued the 2025 statistics on the 28^th July. One unspoken headline is that 40,748 children under the age of 16 were affected by these divorces making a total of 214,637 between 2021 and 2025. These children will potentially grow up with a fractured view of what marriage is!

Marriages

• The total number of registered marriages for the year was 118,804 the number according to God’s design was 114,168. This is a drop of 2040 compared to 2024, that is a percentage drop of 1.7%, the number of marriages in 2023 was 118,439.
• Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and Australian Capital Territory all registered fewer marriages than in 2024.
• New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory all showed an increase in registrations on 2024
• The median age for marriage in 2025 was 32.7 for men and 31.2 for women, with not a great variation during the last 5 years

Divorces

• Whilst the divorce rate of 2.2 for 2025 remains much lower than the high rate of 3.3 in 2005 it did show a rise against 2024. [The divorce rate is measured against per 1000 people in Australia over the age of 16 years]
• The total number
  

“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.””(Gen. 1:27–28)

In God’s creation, maleness and femaleness are a central part, together with their being complimentary and both being made in God’s image. God’s word shows that, sexual union only occurs within marriage and giving the potential for new life, new fruit.

The sexual acts of men and women can influence the image of God they bear. Our acts either honour or dishonour the image of God which is only borne by humans. This is also true of our sexual desires – in Matthew 5.28  Jesus teaches that “Everyone who looks at a woman lust- fully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Also, our sexual acts have spiritual and moral dimensions; they are not just physical or biological. Old Testament scriptures often illustrate our relationship with God through marital fidelity, nuptial joy, fertility, harlotry, and sexual defilement.

Through the ages, the Christian Church taught an ethic of sexual self-discipline, recognizing that sex involves our