A few days ago, I wrote about the concept of killing desire in relation to overcoming habitual sin. If you haven't read part 1 head on over and take a look. This post will make a lot more sense. Or maybe not.
You all caught up? Good. Allow me to try to clarify why I don't think trying to kill desire is adequate for having us overcome habitual sin. Let's pretend that I struggle with being overweight. (If you know me, you know this isn't a problem, but for the sake of the analogy, let's pretend.) I understand that some people are obese due to medical or other perfectly legitimate issues, but let's say that I'm overweight simply because I love food. I love the way it smells, the way it tastes, the textures as I chew, the feeling of satisfaction that comes after eating. I love everything about food. Now let's say that I have decided that I need to lose weight, so I start a diet that removes unhealthy, processed foods from my normal eating cycle. After four weeks on said diet, I've lost 42 pounds and feel much better about myself, so I finish up that special diet and everything goes back to normal.
Though I've lost the weight, eventually I find it again, and it's as though nothing had ever changed. Did the diet fail? To determine that, we'd need to look into my goals a little bit deeper. I said that I wanted to lose weight, but why? Maybe my doctor said that in combination with being overweight, I was also struggling with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If my goal was to become healthier, then I'd have to say that the diet failed. Why? Because I approached the diet completely wrong. I looked at it and thought, "If I just eat this certain type of food or don't eat that type of food, then my problem is solved." But the thing is, I misinterpreted the problem. The problem wasn't my weight, it was my desire for food. Even though I made it through four weeks, I stopped. In fact, I could hardly wait to be off the diet because Round Table was calling my name. In order to be healthier more permanently, I would have needed to change my desire for food.
That is why simply trying to kill desire doesn't help us overcome habitual sin. We can focus on not doing something, and we can do well at it for a while. But until I fill the void left by that thing, I will always be aware of what I'm not doing. I know it's not a perfect analogy, so let's use pornography as another short example.
“Simply trying to kill the desire won't work, because it will come back unless it's replaced.”
As a Christian, I believe that looking at pornography is a sin. Let's say that I am caught up in a cycle of habitual sin with looking at pornography, but wanting to get out of it. I'm sick and tired of the grip that it has on my life, I don't like the way it influences my mind to look at women, etc. So I load a program on my computer that blocks explicit sites and I do my best not to think about pornography and to stay busy with other things.
Jumping forward a month, it seems like I'm doing well. I haven't looked at anything pornographic throughout the month at all. However, one day, I find myself back to looking at pornography. Why did I do that? I tried so hard not to look at pornography, and I ended up looking anyway. It goes back to desire.
Just like a simple diet couldn't change my overall weight problem, abstaining from pornography couldn't change my overall sin problem. Just like I needed to change my desires from desiring processed, unhealthy foods into fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods, I needed to change my desire for sexual stimulation into something else. Something better. Simply trying to kill the desire won't work, because it will come back unless it's replaced.
So how do I replace a desire? And what do I replace a desire with? Stay tuned for part 3, and I'll do my best to answer those questions.
Your turn:
Have you hit that wall, where, as hard as you try, you cannot seem to kill an unwanted desire? What did you do?
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