Desire is such a fascinating trait of our shared humanity. It’s what sparks everything from relationships to inventions, art, movements & even empires. However, it is incredibly easy, in this world we live in that places high value on temporary things, to want things that we ought not to want, to crave what is, at best a distraction, or at worst, a spiritually damaging sin. Even apparently innocent wants, like desiring to beautify one’s appearance or home, desiring a good job/promotion, etc., can be a snare. Why are these desires in our hearts and how fixated are we with achieving them? For instance, it is perfectly natural to appreciate and seek cleanliness, order, symmetry, colors, and graceful design, the sum of which is beauty. But desperately WANTING things of physical beauty, or anything else of this world, to the point that we feel our life is flat and lacking in some value without them, is NOT OF GOD.
What wants are good wants to have?
The urge to possess something is in itself not a bad thing – it’s how we were all made, mirroring our Lord & Creator who Himself also wants certain things, like:
- Our love, trust, and connection with Him (John 3:16, Psalms 2:12, 118:8-9, Proverbs 8:17, 29:25, Numbers 14:11, Hosea 6:6, Hebrews 10:5)
- Getting along with our fellow humans (Micah 6:8, 1 Thess. 4:3-8, Matthew 22:39, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, 1 Timothy 5:8)
- Our souls that He crafted to be whole with Him (James 4:5-8)
Since our Maker wants to be with us, it makes sense that the most important desire we could have is the desire for God, our Father Himself (see Deuteronomy 4:29, 1 Chronicles 16:11, 22:19, 28:9, Jeremiah 29:13, Lamentations 3:25, Psalms 14:2, 34:10, 105:4, Proverbs 8:17, Isaiah 59:6, Zephaniah 2:3, Amos 5:4, Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 11:6, 1 Timothy 6:17 and more).
And what comes of making Him our number one desire in life? Galatians 5:16 assures us that if we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. Note that the verse doesn’t ask us to ‘actively work on not having evil desires’ – it promises that just keeping our eyes on the Lord suffices to kill the dominion of fleshly desires, and other Scripture shows the concurrent flood of righteousness that comes forth, with the desire for:
- Wisdom (Proverbs 3:13-17, 4:7, Daniel 2:3, 1 Peter 2:2, James 1:5),
- Godly commendation (Hebrews 11:4, 2 Timothy 2:15),
- Salvation of ourselves and others (Romans 10:1),
- Spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1, James 1:17),
- Justice, the final righting of all wrongs (Psalm 37:7; Isaiah 26:9),
- Our eternal lives in heaven (Colossians 3:1-2, Philippians 3:14, Romans 2:6-7),
- Anything we ask for, as long as we are aligned with His will (Psalm 37:4, 145:19, 119:20, John 15:7)
A key way to tell if a desire is coming from our saved, Christ-like nature is if it pushes us towards Him, and if we see blessings, peace & joy come from working toward the goal of our desire, even if it is an uphill battle (Galatians 5:16-22). On the contrary, if we are being pushed towards the shrine of self, towards obsessing over earthly things, we can know that it is NOT from God – He wants us to be satisfied with Himself and His gifts alone.
We were made to desire more, be fulfilled more
The pleasures, rewards, perks of this world are temporal and fleeting. They do not promise everlasting joy and contentment and they aren’t guaranteed to stay in, or even enter, one’s life. Why would God want us to set our hopes for a happy life on obtaining these things when He knows for a fact He is able to offer a satisfaction far surpassing anything humans have to offer? That’s the best part – He puts desires in our hearts that He loves to fulfill! He loves to give us wisdom, joy and every good thing (Proverbs 2:6, Ecclesiastes 2:26). His grace is indeed 100% sufficient for a well-lived life!
“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32 KJV (in a box)
Christianity doesn’t tell us to not want things – it tells us to want better things, and points us to the source of their fulfillment. Everything we could possibly need for a radiant, rainbow-hued life is God. This is a promise that, if claimed, can transform a dingy one-bed shack into a veritable palace, as the Prince of Peace, the Almighty King, has no qualms about residing there with us, and with Him, who could want more?
