Emotions of pain -- desire

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2).

It seems incredible to us that Charles Manson could attract anyone as a follower. But we get some insight from Lynette Fromme, the woman who tried to assassinate President Ford in Sacramento. When a reporter asked why she attached herself to the ‘Manson Family’, she explained that it was Manson’s philosophy that she found so appealing: ‘Get what you want, whenever you want it. That is your God-inspired right.’

Are you a slave to your desires? When you pass an attractive person on the street, do you typically find yourself staring? Do you have a stash of pornography? Do you measure your self-worth by how attractive you are sexually?

Or is shopping your greatest pleasure? Can you easily spend an entire day going from one retailer to another? Do you find it impossible to leave a store without making a purchase? Which is more important to you: shopping, or putting money into savings?

Do you control your appetites, or does your appetites control you? Do you have a hard time staying home from the bar or keeping out of the refrigerator? Do you always have to have something in your mouth, whether it be a snack, a soft drink, or a cigarette? Or do you need something stronger to get you through the day, something like meth or cocaine?

Is making money the most important thing in your life? Do you put in such long hours at work that you have little time left for your family? Do you obsess over your investments, taking time throughout day to check the markets? Are you reluctant to give a donation to charity?

We all have desires, things we want to make us feel safe, feel satisfied, feel good. But these desires can get out of control; they can confuse our priorities and dictate our actions. When our desires start controlling our daily lives, they have become addictions. We must be constantly on our guard to prevent this from happening.

It is natural to feel attraction for the opposite sex; men and women were designed by God to pair up and form families. But sexual desire causes problems when it pulls your attention away from the person you’re committed to; that person will either feel betrayed or unappreciated. Left unchecked, your desire can ruin your most intimate relationships.

We all benefit from the fruits of civilization—cars get us to work faster, household appliances free up more time from chores to spend with family, television links us to the wider world around us. But filling your life with stuff can isolate you—is text messaging and time spent watching TV really better than face to face contact with loved ones? And constant spending can get in the way of saving for the future; what good is a closet full of fashionable clothes when you can’t afford necessary medical care?

Sitting down to a meal with loved ones is a blessing—Jesus even pictured heaven as a banquet. Wine is an excellent beverage for fellowship with friends; Jesus even used wine as part of the Last Supper. But eating to excess can ruin your health; drinking to excess can result in words being spoken that should never have been uttered. What good can come from poisoning yourself with tobacco? How can you provide for your family and plan for the future if your money is consumed by a drug habit?

Money is our way of getting what we need. But when making money is our greatest passion, problems follow. There is reluctance to support the work of the Church. There is temptation to do anything to get more money, even if it involves methods that are unethical, illegal, or immoral. Some people even measure successfulness in life by the amount of their assets instead of by the quality of their character or the depth of their relationships.

Jesus’ disciples were not immune from desire. In their case, what they lusted after was power. These were not men of high social standing; these were not men of wealth. They did not have advanced education; they were ordinary folks who never anticipated becoming men of importance. But when Jesus invited them to become His disciples, their future suddenly brightened. They looked at Jesus’ wisdom, power and popularity, and they started getting stars in their eyes. He gave them the power to perform miracles in His name, and their confidence grew. Jesus might just be the leader Israel had been waiting for, they thought, someone who would expel the Roman occupation forces and restore the nation to the political power and prestige of years gone by.

Heady stuff for twelve common working men. No surprise, then, that they started desiring power and prestige for themselves. On one occasion, the people of a Samaritan village did not welcome Jesus and His entourage; offended, James and John asked Jesus: "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village (Luke 9:54-65).

Another time, Jesus was telling them that it was hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God. When they heard this, Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" (Matthew 19:27)

There was also a time when the disciples got to quarreling among themselves as to who in their group was the greatest; this prompted Jesus to tell them: "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35).

Even during Holy Week, the disciples still let desire for power consume their thoughts. After Jesus had been welcomed into Jerusalem with a king’s honor on Palm Sunday, James and John asked Him for an incredible favor— "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." The other disciples naturally reacted with jealous anger. But Jesus set them all straight: "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark chapter ten).

The problem with desire is that it leads us into selfish behavior. Of course, we don’t see it as selfish—we make up excuses to justify why we need the things we crave. A woman who has an affair can rationalize her behavior by saying, “My husband doesn’t care about me”—but that doesn’t make her conduct acceptable to God. A man who steals from his employer might justify his actions by saying, “The boss doesn’t pay me what I’m worth”—but that doesn’t change the fact that he has sinned. We can make up all sorts of excuses to whitewash our motives, but even if we succeed in fooling ourselves, God sees the truth—that we love treating ourselves more than we love respecting Him.

Another characteristic of desire is that it is never satisfied. An addict always wants more. This is just as true of a lust for sex as it is for a desire to go shopping; addiction to drugs is really no different than addiction to junk food or the compulsive accumulation of money. We see it in the behavior of the Twelve; in spite of Jesus’ repeated correction, the disciples kept fantasizing about having power, and that desire showed itself in their wrong-headed conduct.

God says, Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. The Bible warns us repeatedly against lusting after sex, lusting after money, lusting after property. God condemns lust for food, lust for alcohol, and lust for power. It all comes down to looking at the wrong things for happiness. How long will your body stay feeling good after a candy bar or a line of cocaine? How long can you expect to hold an elected public office? How long will your investments support your spending habits after you retire? How many years can you expect to lure strangers into bed with your good looks?

There’s the problem; in this world, things end. Money is used up, youth gives way to old age, someone smarter comes along and takes your office. You cannot find lasting happiness by feeding your desires for earthly pleasures.

Thankfully, you don’t have to. Gifts have a limited life span, but the Giver of those gifts does not. God is the great Giver of All. He is eternal, and He has gifts to give that do not wear out—gifts that can follow us through the grave and out the other side. He offers us the gift of mercy, forgiveness for our mistakes that frees us from the chains of guilt tying us to the past. He offers us the gift of purpose, a reason to live that is more than just shoveling food into our mouths or stuffing our closets with new clothes. He offers us the gift of compassion, so that we can let go of hurts and, through forgiveness, have quality relationships with each other. And He offers us the gift of life after death, a life with Him in a place where there is no addiction to desire.

These are gifts that can be yours right now, and they are gifts that do not have a shelf life—they will continue to bless you into eternity. Even better, these gifts don’t result in compulsive behavior; they don’t tempt us to be selfish and hurtful towards others. But gifts this wonderful did not come cheaply; they cost our Lord a great deal. The price of these gifts was the life of God’s Son, demanded from Him in exchange for our blessing. Jesus was betrayed, insulted, made fun of, whipped, beaten and crucified—all to offer you something better than a wallet full of twenties or a fully stocked liquor cabinet.

What does God ask of us in exchange for these everlasting gifts? He asks three things. First, He demands that we give our love to Him; we do this by honoring His Son Jesus as His greatest gift to us. Second, He instructs us to use every gift responsibly, whether it be sex or food or money or influence over others. This means that we must study His Word, so we can better know how to use His gifts in ways that please Him. And finally, He expects us to receive His gifts with thanksgiving. God doesn’t owe us anything—all that we receive is due to His loving generosity. It is only right that we tell Him thank you with sincere hearts on a daily basis.

God gives us everything we need and more besides, and He does so purely out of love for us. It is foolishness to devote more love and attention to the gifts than to the loving God who gives them.