Pastor and author Paul David Tripp uses the following scenario to describe what's really going on every time a man chooses to lust (or anytime anyone chooses to sin):
A man is walking home from work and lusting after the woman approaching him on the sidewalk. He slows down his walk to get a longer look, and he turns around and watches as she passes. Think with me again about the godlike posture of this man. First, he is treating this moment as if it belongs to him. It's as if he is sovereign and she is on the sidewalk according to his will and for his pleasure. He's the self-appointed deity of the moment … The world has shrunk to the size of his desire, and he rules it for his pleasure. … He will have what he will have, even if it is the only the right to stare at body parts and imagine having them for his pleasure.
But there is more. For that moment he is stealing God's creation and taking it as his own. He has no right to this woman. She does not actually belong to him in any way, but he takes her with his mind and his eyes. … He's ripped this woman out of the hands of God and claimed her as his own for whatever momentary pleasure he can achieve … He has denied God's existence. He has set himself up as God.
What's the solution to this godlike delusion of lust? Tripp continues:
Recognition of and living for the community with God for which I was created keeps my sexual life pure. There is no other way. Heart-controlling love for God protects my heart from wandering to all the places it could wander in this sexually insane world.
