CHAPTER XI.
LUST.
"Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts."—James Letter, chap. i. 14.
Lust may be defined to be the desire for self-gratification.
The forbidden fruit is that which seems to be
desired to make one happy, and is sought after, not
for the purpose of supplying a need, but to gratify a
desire.
Man's constitution is such that there are needs pertaining to every part thereof; and those needs are indicated by awakening desires; and when the need is supplied, a pleasure or gratification is experienced, which is a sort of plaudit of "Well done;" and all legitimate pleasure or happiness which man is constitutionally fitted to enjoy arises from complying with the proper demands of his being. All constitutional demands of the being man have strict reference to constitutional needs; and the life and energy making that demand will not be disregarded. It will not suffer the being to find rest until the demand is complied with. It will create restlessness and disquiet; and the individual will give expression to that life and energy in some direction, if he does not in the true one.
Man possesses within him immortal energies, or he
