Eye Candy May 2023

Hey everybody! 

Happy May! I hope you are doing well and enjoying the beginning of Spring. 

I totally forgot to upload the blog for April….so here it goes! 

This month we are continuing with “The Eve Complex” which is a 4 part series. The blog for March was “Did God really say that? And we are building today with part 2 with a subtitle of Eye Candy.

Most of us are familiar with the term Eye Candy but what exactly does it mean?

Eye Candy is defined by freedictionary.com as: something superficially attractive, good to look at, but often has very little substance, meaning, or purpose. 

Let me preface this by saying that all eye candy isn’t bad for you. It’s a part of our human experience to see something and like it or want it, which is healthy as long as it doesn’t lead us to sin. 

There is nothing wrong with wanting a home, your dream car, wealth, your own business and relationships. God has no problem blessing his children with abundance in every area of our lives. 

Our eyes are very powerful when it comes to interpreting what we see. Who and what we find attractive differs from person to person, we all don’t like the same thing and I think there’s beauty in that.

Our eyes play a huge role in the decisions we make. Many of our choices are driven by how something or someone looks.

We eat with our eyes, if I see a piece of cake and a bowl of broccoli, guess which one I am going for? Or we won’t eat something at all if it doesn’t look right. 

We shop with our eyes, that’s how those late-night TV ads, Amazon, the mall, gets us every time. Many people are deep in credit card debt right now because of their eyes.

Online dating is a virtual rolodex that is full of eye candy. It attracts millions of people who are searching for “the one”. Many fall in love with a profile pic and are ready to marry someone they’ve never met or barely know.  To each his own…I know these relationships work out sometimes but online dating it’s not something I would personally recommend.

As I stated a few minutes ago, looking at, desiring or enjoying things that are pleasing to the eye is harmless. However, if you become fixated on it, you want it so bad that it consumes you, then that’s a problem because it typically leads being manipulative, dishonest, overindulging, disrespecting yourself, taking advantage of someone else and disobeying God to get what you want. When this happens, just know that your eyes have led you down a path that could destroy you. 

Adam and Eve had everything they needed and then some. They were in this lush, beautiful garden that was ready for them to enjoy what they had been given but Eve decided to focus on this ONE thing that she thought she was lacking which caused them to have their garden privileges revoked.

A misguided focus on the wrong thing could cause you to lose what matters the most. 

Why is it that we can’t see how blessed we really are? All that we have been given to enjoy? But instead we become discontent, we start looking around at what others have, comparison sets in so we start trying to find something to make us happier, instead of enjoying the countless blessings that have freely been given to us.  While we’re wishing we had more, there is someone who would love to trade places with us…I can promise you that. 

Our eyes and our soul don’t know what satisfaction is, we will always be presented with something or someone new to tempt us. 

The lust of the eyes says…I see it and I want it. 

The lust of flesh says…it will make me feel good, what do I need to do to get it? 

And the pride of life says….even if I’m not supposed to have it….it’s about be mine…by any means necessary!

Eye Candy is nothing new. I have some Old Testament witnesses besides Eve that can tell you what happens when lust leads the way.

The first one is David, in 2nd Samuel Chapter 11, he laid eyes on a married woman named Bathsheba. He determined that he had to have her, and his desire resulted in infidelity, a pregnancy and ultimately murder of an innocent man.

The second one is Sampson who had supernatural strength given by God. He ripped a lion apart with his bare hands and killed 1,000 men with the jaw bone of a donkey. Every trap set for him; God would always give him unexplainable physical strength to defeat his enemies. That all changed when he met and fell in love with Delilah in Judges Chapter 16. The Philistines couldn’t figure out how Sampson was so strong, so they offered Delilah money if she could find out where his strength came from. It took her a few tries to get the answer but the 4th time was a charm. He told her the secret and not only ended up getting a haircut but was captured, his eyes were gouged out, he went to prison and later died. 

And the 3rd one was Solomon….who had a level of wisdom and wealth that no one could compete with but his biggest downfall was women. He loved women and a bunch of them, even if they served other gods. This is one part of his life where he threw wisdom out the window and made the decision to let his wives lead him astray. In 1st Kings chapter 11, he started worshipping the false gods that his wives worshipped and even built temples for their idol worship. Now Jehovah God tried to warn him of the danger of what he was doing but he ignored God which resulted in generational consequences. It was in the book of Ecclesiastes, where Solomon finally realized that all of the eye candy he had amassed for his personal pleasure wasn’t worth it.

Temptation is a trap and shows up at the most inopportune time, when you are the weakest, most vulnerable, in your feelings or have let your guard down.

Temptation is not a one-time occurrence.  It’s not something you conquer once and never have to deal with again…that would be nice…but I dare say it’s almost a daily reality.

We can’t walk around life with our eyes closed or turn off our feelings.  Temptation is all around us and is here to stay So, we have to learn to manage it and not get caught up in the now.

So, how do we manage our eye candy…..the things that tempt us? I say manage it because we’re going to see a lot of things we like, wish we had and are tempted to try and get. 

When it comes to temptation……according to 1 Corinthians 10:13…we must 

1. Know that it’s common…you haven’t been singled out, you’re not being picked on….you’re not the only one being tempted…..temptation happens to all of us.
2. When you are tempted…the scripture didn’t say if by chance you are…it says WHEN….which means it’s going to happen and what tempts you may or may not tempt me.
3. God will not allow the temptation to be more than you can handle. It sure does feel like it sometimes…..but do you know why we feel like we can’t resist or we end up giving in? It’s because we don’t take the escape that God provides. We don’t even look for it. Our  resistance game is weak…which brings me to number 4.
4. He will give you a way out. Every. Single. Time. But do we even stop long enough to ask Him for help? I dare say most of the time we don’t because we have our mind and heart set on instant gratification. That dopamine rush is about to hit and we’re not trying to stop it. However, following God’s escape route will teach us discipline, contentment and patience. He wants us to learn how to say no now for a better yes later. 

In closing…

The most amazing privilege that we don’t take full advantage of is our relationship with God and the power of his word. He longs to help us but we don’t come to him until after the fact. Let’s work on that and run to Him for help the second we feel tempted. He’ll be right there with an escape plan so we can avoid the pitfalls that yielding to temptation brings. 

Let’s stay on the path to HIS best! His way beats a temporary thrill any day! 

Let’s keep our eyes on God… the author and finisher of our faith! ????

Please feel free to leave a comment if this blog resonates with you. I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Also join me on my YouTube channel, Lessons with Leslie. There is a new video every Friday and also the Lessons with Leslie Podcast is available every first and third Friday. 

Thanks for coming back and hanging out with me. I love it when you do! I’ll chat with you in June.

I celebrate and appreciate you my fellow Party of ONE!

God’s best always,

Leslie 

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Scriptural References

Genesis 3:6-7 (NIV)

6. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 
7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 

Luke 11:34 (NLT)

34. “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness.

1 John 2:16 (NLT)

16. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world.

James 1:13-15 (NIV)

13. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14. but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

13. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Proverbs 4:25-27  (ERV)

25. Keep your eyes on the path and look straight ahead. 26. Make sure you are going the right way, and nothing will make you fall. 27. Don’t go to the right or to the left, and you will stay away from evil.