Latin Root: Luxuria– intense carnal longing
Gilligan’s Island character: Ginger
Traditional Corresponding Virtue: Chastity/Purity

While we often associate lust with sex, the term has broader applications. Beyond only sexual pleasure, lust involves an obsession with happiness, whatever form this might take, and one of the best examples comes from a surprising source:

Did you know the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants was initially going to be for mature audiences? In fact, the show’s creators designed each member of the main cast to model one of the seven deadly sins. Mr. Krabs represents greed, while Plankton is envy. With her Texas bravado, Sandy the Squirrel embodies pride, while Patrick Star might be the poster child for sloth. Gary the Snail displays gluttony, while Squidward feels constant wrath toward the other characters, leaving only Spongebob himself: lust. Perhaps the more adult-oriented SpongeBob would have engaged in open lasciviousness, but on the children’s cartoon, SpongeBob is more asexual, desiring intense friendships but never expressing romantic interest in other characters. In fact, he even references this offhandedly in one episode, remarking how sponges reproduce asexually through budding. How then is he guilty of lust?

Classic lust replaces eternal joy with more temporal earthly happiness, focusing on short-term enjoyment rather than more long-term achievements like discipline and personal growth. There’s a certain nihilism wrapped up in this understanding of lust: why do anything else when you can have pleasure? It’s very much a “seize the day” attitude with the underlying assumption this day is all there is, so we might as well prioritize personal fun over anything else. This is what makes SpongeBob such a great example. He’s not malicious in his fun-seeking. He doesn’t seek to do others harm (even if he annoys them). He just has no outlook beyond fun, and as such, he’s blown about by his own whims in every episode, never experiencing any substantive change or growth.

Of course, completely abstaining from all things enjoyable isn’t the solution either, and as we’ll soon see with the other seven deadlies, the healthiest path usually lies somewhere in the middle. Somewhere between complete self-indulgence and complete self-denial lies a middle path of purity where we can have fun without being ruled by it. We are meant to enjoy this world, but when we treat this world’s pleasures as our highest possible attainment, we commit lust.

Question for Reflection:
Fun and happiness are good things, but are you using them to replace or put off something more important?