This devotional series has been about the significance of transformation in our lives as a believer. Another area that we are to see powerful change is our ungodly desires!
Lusts & Desires
As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 1 Peter 1:14
The world’s influence and our cultural norms create an environment for ungodly desires and lusts to develop. Those lusts and desires become stronger over time by being exposed to certain values and/or lack. They come from our old nature trying to handle life and achieve success!
If one has come from a very poor family, getting rich may be very important and valuable to him/her. Another person may have come from a family of doctors, and it is their expectation that someday he/she needs to become a physician. Some have had missionaries and pastors in their family; they may have developed an expectation to pastor a church or be in full time ministry someday. Some come from church cultures that are very title conscious. These individuals didn’t know anything about church titles until they walked in their recent church culture. Now they find themselves developing new lusts that weren’t there before. While some of these desires are not wrong on their own merit, being absorbed or consumed by them is wrong.
How do we know we have lusts and desires that are ungodly?
We lost our peace.
We compete or compare ourselves to others.
We find ourselves feeling inferior for not having those desires fulfilled.
The above scripture is encouraging all of us not to be ignorant as we once were but resist conforming to the cultural norms and values.Sometimes we make our lives complicated and confusing when we try to hold on to cultural values of our environment/past while at the same time trying to love God and serve Him wholeheartedly. Holding on to both will cause us to be double-minded, and we are bound to lose ground in what we have overcome in the past.
The question that would clarify our lusts and desires is: “Is this as important to the Lord as it is to me?”. If the answer is, “No.”, then we need to let go of it. Crucifying the flesh and its desires isn’t easy, but as obedient children, we don’t have any other choice. As a believer, we cannot play the cultural game and think that our soul and spirit won’t get polluted by those desires.
Lord, we ask for your continual grace to give us the power to be transformed in all areas of our lives!
