Lust ~ Infatuation ~ Love : Can you tell the difference?

Many relationships start with lust, turn into infatuation and can develop into love if there’s mutual respect, care, and compatibility. However not all lust or infatuation become love. This is why we wanted to touch on this touchy topic. As you know, our goal here at Sakaiza is to educate on how to foster a meaningful lasting relationship when it comes to love.

Many religions and moral teachings consider lust a temptation or sin when it becomes uncontrollable or leads to harmful actions (like infidelity, exploitation…). Therefore, it’s seen as something that should be tamed or balanced.

Lust is a natural feeling but can become problematic if it overrides reason, respect, or emotional well-being. Also, it’s a part of human nature—what matters is how it's understood and handled.

Lust, love, and infatuation can feel similar but they are actually quite different in depth and purpose. Let’s break them down one by one, starting with lust.

Lust is a strong, intense desire—most commonly used to refer to a powerful sexual craving, physical attraction or longing for someone, without emotional connection or love. It can also describe a deep desire for other things, like power, wealth, or pleasure, though it's most often associated with sexual attraction. Lust focuses on pleasure, fantasy, and physical satisfaction rather than emotional intimacy or commitment.

Short-term and impulsive, lust is typically immediate, intense and can fade quickly.

It’s more about the urge or impulse rather than a deeper, long-lasting connection like love which involves emotional bonding, care, respect, and long-term commitment.

Next, let’s see what distincts infatuation, also known as “coup de foudre,” from love:

• Focus: Idealized image of someone
• Feeling: Intense admiration or obsession
• Duration: Can last longer than lust, but still temporary
• Connection: Emotional excitement without deep understanding
• Examples: Thinking someone is “perfect” early in a relationship, obsessing over someone you barely know
• Risk: Can blur judgment and lead to disappointment when reality sets in

How about love?

• Focus: Emotional bond, respect, and care
• Feeling: Deep connection, trust, and affection
• Duration: Long-term, grows over time
• Connection: Involves knowing the person deeply—flaws and all
• Examples: Supporting your Sakaiza through highs and lows, wanting their happiness even without personal gain
• Strength: Builds a stable, meaningful relationship

In a nutshell, lust wants the body, infatuation wants the feeling and love wants the whole and genuine Sakaiza.

In our next article, we are going to dive deeper into how these feelings show up in relationships or how to tell them apart in real life.

Gathered by ~ajita SoaSoa

Photo by Smiley Shooting