People usually think of the lust 7 deadly sins connection as something strictly for dusty old confessionals or maybe a high-budget Brad Pitt movie from the 90s. It feels ancient. But honestly, if you look at how we live today—the endless scrolling, the dating app fatigue, the way "thirst traps" are basically a global currency—lust is probably the most relevant of the bunch. It’s not just about sex. Not really.
It's about hunger.
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When Pope Gregory I first codified the list in the late 6th century, he wasn't just trying to be a killjoy. He was identifying deep-seated psychological patterns. He called it luxuria. Back then, it meant "excess" or "riotous living." It wasn't until later that the word narrowed down specifically to sexual desire. Even today, the way we talk about it is kinda messy and often totally misses the point of why it was considered "deadly" in the first place.
The Problem with Defining Lust 7 Deadly Sins
Most people confuse lust with simple attraction. That's a mistake. If you’re human, you’re going to find people attractive. Biology doesn't just switch off because of a list written by a monk 1,500 years ago. Dante Alighieri, in his Divine Comedy, actually placed the lustful in the second circle of Hell—the very first circle of the "sins of the flesh."
Why? Because he thought it was the least serious of the deadly sins.
That’s a weird thought, right? In Dante’s view, lust was just "love blown out of proportion." It’s an appetite that lost its way. It's disordered. Instead of seeing a person as a whole human being with a soul and a favorite movie and a childhood fear of spiders, lust shrinks them down. They become a tool. An object. A means to an end. That’s where the "deadly" part kicks in. It’s not about the act; it’s about the dehumanization.
Where Lust Actually Comes From
Saint Thomas Aquinas spent a lot of time thinking about this in the Summa Theologica. He argued that lust is a sin because it ignores the purpose of the act and the reason of the mind. It’s a "shorter circuit" in the brain. You want the dopamine hit now. You don't want the responsibility. You don't want the connection. You just want the release.
Modern psychology actually backs some of this up. We see it in how the brain processes "wanting" versus "liking."
Dr. Kent Berridge at the University of Michigan has done fascinating work on this. "Wanting" (desire) and "Liking" (pleasure) use different neural pathways. Lust is all "wanting." It’s a high-octane drive that doesn't necessarily lead to satisfaction. It’s a loop. You chase, you get, you feel empty, you chase again. It’s why some people can have a million followers or endless hookups and still feel incredibly lonely. The appetite is never actually full.
The Asmodeus Connection
In traditional demonology, the "demon" associated with the lust 7 deadly sins category is Asmodeus. In the Malleus Maleficarum, he’s the one who tempts people into infidelity. If you look at Persian lore or the Book of Tobit, he’s a much darker figure.
But forget the pitchforks for a second.
Think of Asmodeus as a metaphor for the "wandering eye." It’s the inability to be present. If you’re always looking for the next best thing, the next thrill, or the next person, you can never actually inhabit your own life. You’re living in a state of perpetual "elsewhere." That’s the real sting of this specific vice. It robs you of the present moment.
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Is Lust Always Bad?
Honestly, no.
Some theologians and philosophers argue that desire is the engine of life. Without a "lust for life," we’d all just sit in dark rooms and wait for the end. The trick is the direction.
- Direction: Is your desire aimed at a person or an object?
- Consent: Is the other person an active participant or a prop?
- Integration: Does this desire fit into the rest of your life, or is it a secret you have to hide?
If your desire makes you a worse version of yourself—liar, manipulator, or just someone who can't focus on work—then you're dealing with the classic "deadly" version. If it’s an expression of intimacy and shared joy, most modern thinkers (and even many progressive religious ones) would say it’s just part of being alive.
The Digital Age: Lust on Steroids
We live in a world designed to trigger this specific sin every four seconds.
Algorithms don't care about your soul. They care about your engagement. And nothing engages a human brain faster than the primal triggers of lust. Whether it’s an Instagram ad or a highly-engineered thumbnail on a video, we are being constantly poked in our "wanting" centers.
It’s exhausting.
This constant stimulation leads to something called "habituation." You need more. More intensity. More variety. Harder stuff. It’s the classic "hedonic treadmill." You run and run, but the scenery never changes. You’re just burning out your dopamine receptors. It’s a lifestyle built on a foundation of "not enough."
How to Actually Deal With It
Moving past the lust 7 deadly sins trap isn't about becoming a monk. That’s probably not realistic for most of us. It’s about "re-humanizing" your gaze.
- Practice "Mindsight": This is a term used by Dr. Daniel Siegel. It’s about seeing the internal world of others. When you catch yourself objectifying someone, try to imagine their life. Imagine their struggles. It breaks the "object" spell.
- The 10-Minute Rule: Lust is impulsive. If you feel a sudden, overwhelming urge to scroll through an ex's photos or engage in something you know is destructive, wait ten minutes. The physiological "spike" of desire usually has a very short half-life. If you don't feed it, it fades.
- Physicality over Digitality: Get out of your head and into your body. Exercise, cook, garden. Lust is often a "heady" sin—it lives in fantasy. Engaging in physical reality helps ground those runaway thoughts.
- Check the Hunger: Often, lust is a "masking" emotion. Are you actually horny, or are you just bored? Loneliness, stress, and even physical hunger can manifest as a desire for sexual validation. It’s an easy fix for a complicated feeling.
Actionable Steps for a Modern World
Stop calling it "just a habit." If it’s affecting your sleep, your relationships, or how you view yourself in the mirror, it’s an issue.
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Start by auditing your digital environment. Unfollow the accounts that make you feel like people are just collections of body parts. It sounds simple, but your brain is incredibly plastic. What you look at changes how you think.
Next, focus on "slow intimacy." Whether it’s with a partner or just building deep friendships, invest in things that don't give you an immediate hit. The goal is to move from "wanting" to "relating."
Finally, be honest about your motivations. Most people lie to themselves about why they do what they do. Identifying the "why" is 90% of the battle. If you're using lust to avoid dealing with a promotion you didn't get or a grief you haven't processed, call it out. The "deadly" power of these sins usually disappears when you shine a light on them.
You don't need to be a saint to be in control of your own desires. You just have to be awake.