Sin distorts our desires in many ways. And we must be willing to put to death these sinful desires at all cost. But this is not the same as killing desire itself. We must remain hungry for righteousness to thrive and accomplish the work God has given us to do.
Of course, when we’ve found ourselves constantly tempted toward sin, it’s a relief to no longer want what we used to want. And this is worth celebrating. At the same time, this is not true freedom when we’ve simply killed the desires of our heart. Wanting to rid our life of junk food doesn’t mean we have to stop eating altogether. And this is not a sustainable solution even if we try.
To kill our desires is to kill the vitality of our hearts. While we might not sin in the same way anymore, we’ve also essentially castrated ourselves, which still ultimately causes us to miss the mark. We cannot bring more life and goodness into the world when we’ve divorced ourselves from the deep desires of our heart. We must keep our wholehearted desires intact to have the impact we’ve been called to make.
Our task is for our desires to be redeemed and transformed – no longer focused on the sin, but now shaped in the direction of God’s best for us. And this requires us to remain hungry and full of desire, while being wise and discerning in the ways our desires might be distorted.
Desiring success, status, and sex, for instance, is not inherently bad. And we miss much goodness when we assume distortions in these mean we must eliminate these desires altogether. Remaining hungry allows us to continue pressing toward the mark of God’s goodness.
In the end, be diligent in eliminating your distorted desires without attempting to kill your hunger itself. You must remain hungry to accomplish the good work God has called you to do.
Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash
