Overcoming Desires

25th May 2008
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13-15

At a recent Bible Study meeting, the question of how to overcome temptation was asked. I know there are many reactions to this question, but allow me to give my own reaction. The above scripture tells us that we are tempted when we are drawn away by our own evil desire. It is our desire that causes us to be tempted and if we succumb to this temptation, sin is brought forth and when sin is fully grown, death comes about. I, therefore, feel that, in dealing with sin, we need to deal first with our desires, because it is these desires that bring about sin. Let me, however, say that temptation is not sin; Jesus was tempted yet He did not sin.

Now, how do we deal with desires? Titus 3:5 (NKJV) says “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” The words I want us to concentrate on here are regeneration and renewing. The word regenerate, here, means to give a new and higher spiritual nature to something or someone. According to Paul, it is the Holy Spirit that does this in our lives. In the area of our desires, these also have to be regenerated and renewed, that is we need to be given a new ones. However, the question remains, how can our desires be regenerated?

My answer to that question would be that it is only through the word of God that our desires can be regenerated. Ephesians 5:26 says that Christ cleansed the church and sanctified her with the washing of water by the word. Now in Titus we read that we have been saved through the washing of regeneration, and Ephesians tells us that we have been cleansed by the washing of water by the word. What am I getting at? Simple, it is through the word of God that our desires can be regenerated.

We need to get new desires that will replace those desires that lead to sin, and one of the means of getting these new desires is if we read and meditate on His word. The Bible says we are to set our mind on things above and not on things below, how do we know of the things that are above except by the word of God. God has revealed Himself to us through His word, He has revealed His nature and character as well as His promises. He has also told us of those things that are above, those thing on which we are to set our minds on (e.g. Philippians 4:8).

Spending time in the presence of God will also get us new desires. As we spend more time with Him, we tend to take after His nature as He deposits it into us. From past and present experience, I have found that the more time you spend with someone, the more you take up some of his or her characters. I can testify that at times I found myself laughing like a friend of mine all because I had been spending much time with them. The same is true if we spend more time in the presence of God, we begin to take after His nature and He gives us His desires.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” To delight yourself in the Lord is to desire and enjoy the nearness of His presence and the truth and righteousness of His word. When we delight ourselves in God and His will, God Himself places desires within our hearts that He then sets out to fulfill. Now, from James 1:13, we know that God cannot put ungodly desires within us. This means that as we spend time in His presence He will give us new, godly desires.

Furthermore, Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” It can be seen from this scripture that reading and meditating on the word of God will keep us from sin. How will it keep us from sin? The word will make you aware of God’s nature, that He is holy and that He desires you to be holy as well. This will keep you from sin, as the word will be the weapon by which you will say no to every temptation that is sent your way.

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34) and in Proverbs we are told “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV) Now, if you have hidden God’s word in your heart, then the issues or desires that will spring out of it will be godly desires. Yet again we see the need for one to meditate on the word of God.

The word of God will also help to condition you. As you read and learn of what God is looking for in you, you will strive to be what God has called you to be. You will know, for example, that you should no longer give your bodily members as instruments of sin (Romans 6:12,13). This will keep you from sin. Jesus was able to triumph over Satan when tempted using the scriptures He had read and learnt, the same will be true of you if you take time to read on and meditate on the word of God.

I urge you then, to purposefully read and meditate on the word of God, spend more time in His presence. It is as you do these things that you will get new desires, desires that will not cause you to be tempted. The say prevention is better than cure. Prevent temptation by getting new desires.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied to you. Amen