What is L...ust?

Lust. The evil word that we are commanded to stay away from. The word that when Christ mentions it he says "So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away..." (Matt. 5:29a) Think about the implications of that. Gauge out your eye!? Surely that would not take away the ability to lust. What then must we do? Famous theologian and leading New Testament Scholar N.T. Wright interprets this section to mean that by not giving into lust it may sometimes be so hard it feels like you are gauging out your eye. The point is to find ways to remove the temptation. But here is my main question, is Lust simply something sexual? Sure the connotation and most of the definitions are, but they can also simply mean "desire." Surely we have more desires than just sexual ones? Rob Bell, in his book Sex God: exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality, says "There is so much to enjoy, yet we fixate on something we don't have." That I believe sums up what lust is. It promises us something that it can't give. It makes us want something we don't have. So what is Lust? I propose it is an overwhelming desire for anyone or anything that tries to manipulate and destroy our lives. It can be a desire for someone--maybe that girl you really like, or that boy you're dying to talk to--, A desire for the next new book--even though you still have hundreds you have yet to read--, A desire to spend time with certain people, watching certain movies, doing certain sports, doing certain activities. These are all good and godly things when done right, but when perverted by an evil desire they can become lust and thus not good for our lives. I propose we give those things we lust after to God and let God redefine them in our lives and make us new as His children with desires for the good of His creation.