Difference Between Love and Lust
The two words Love and Lust are often confused. They may carry the same connotation and general meaning, but they are very different in their actual use.
Love is universal and more elevated in feeling, while lust has a more physical sense. Love suggests affection, depth of feeling and compassion whereas lust denotes physical attraction and sensuality.
There are expressions like ‘God is love’, ‘Love all’ and ‘Love Work’. In each of these expressions, the meaning of love is slightly different.
In the first expression ‘God is love’, God is the personification of love. In the second term ‘love all’, the word ‘love’ is used in the sense of universality. In the third term ‘love of work’, the word ‘love’ is used to mean ‘attachment’. It is clear that love is a universal feeling and the term Love can be used in different connotations.
On the other hand, the word lust is used in only one main connotation. It has a sense of sensuality attached to it. That is the reason why there are phrase such as ‘Lust for women’ or ‘lusty stare’. In the first expression, the word lust is used in the sense of sex appeal or physical attraction. In the second term, the word lust is used in the sense of looking passionately at somebody.
The word lust is sometimes used in its secondary meaning, in connection with words such as money and land. We often hear expressions such as ‘lust for money’ and ‘lust for land’. Here, the word ‘lust’ refers to striving for or desire for material pleasures.
Love is not related to worldly pleasures. It suggests the universal felicity; it is a more sublime feeling. Thus, there is a lot of difference in the two words love and lust. This difference has to be carefully maintained while using these words in speech or writing.