Matthew 5:28-29 (NLT)
But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
The mind is where it starts. How do people end up in adultery? They think about lust. Our mind is powerful, therefore, our thoughts are powerful. “As a Man Thinketh,” wasn’t written just for the heck of it. It was written because of how true the power of our thoughts is.
Look it up. Many have said thoughts become actions. Actions become habits. Habits become character and so forth.
Thus, entertaining the thought of lust is the beginning of adultery. The Bible says if your eye causes you to lust, gouge it out AND throw it away. Be completely done with it. Why? Because sometimes all it takes is a thought…
God knows that. He knows where it begins and how it ends. Steer clear of adultery by steering clear of lust. And the best way to not lust, is to never start thinking about it. Don’t let your thoughts send you where you don’t want to go, doing something you didn’t want to do, feeling bad about something that didn’t have to be.
Colossians 3:2 (AMP)
Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].
Philippians 4:8 (NLT)
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.