Desires lead to choice

Choose your Mores
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Choose your Mores

My Dear Seeker,

The evil one subtly lures us into distrusting God by convincing us we need more. If some is good, more must be better. (Reread my last letter for a fuller discussion about this subject.) How, then, does Jesus woo us into believing in and acting from a trusting heart? By using the same motivation, desiring more, but with a different object as its goal.

As I said before, desires are not bad, they fuel our choices, spark us into action, and can lead us to life. It is the goal of our desires that can be deadly. Remember Satan cannot create, so he must twist a God-given goodness into something harmful and hurtful.

Jesus also invites us to desire more. The more he encourages is to have more of God. We are to make choices based on our desire to trust God. This is the more he sought, it is the way of life he invites us to follow.

Every choice we see Jesus making is based on his desire to be united with the will of his Father in heaven. He made the choice to leave heaven and become poor for our sake, fulfilling the will of the triune God. He did not desire and seek after people’s good opinion. He suffered dishonor in the eyes of the world because he desired to live out of the Father’s heart toward humankind. Jesus cast himself onto the care of his Father in heaven. He trusted God for all, his daily bread, his ministry, and ultimately his life and death. He humbly depended on God for everything.

St. Ignatius said it this way: choose poverty which leads to dishonor which leads to humility.  Yikes. Who wants to be poor and dishonored? It is definitely an upside-down world Jesus embodies.

A more contemporary way of understanding Ignatius’ insight is choosing contentment/simplicity which leads to suffering which leads to dependence.  

When we make choices to be content living simply, and doing without certain things, we will suffer to some degree and suffering leads us to God. For example, choosing to ride your bike to work and leaving your car at home. This small but simple choice, made out of love for God’s world, reduces your carbon footprint but increases your inconvenience. Now you must suffer the weather, the time constraints, and the lack of flexibility that driving your car would allow you. You must trust God with your schedule, your safety, and your social calendar.

The starting point of the evil one’s strategy is the lure of riches/more. Jesus’ way of living starts with inviting us into humility. We want humility, don’t we?

Life will bring you many choices. The choice you make will be rooted in what you most desire. Your enemy will attract you toward a choice that will bring you worldly riches and honor. Jesus will attract you toward a choice that leads you to trust God more and to desire the will of the Trinity.

Every choice you make in life has these two options. Jesus would have you choose life.

With you on the journey,

Debby

Desires
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Desires

My Dear Seeker,

To understand the choices we make and prepare to make ones that turn us toward God, we must understand our desires. It is desire that leads to choice. What we want we make choices to get. What we are attracted to, we find a way of moving toward. What we don’t want, we attempt to find ways to avoid. Desire fuels our choices.

There are two competing strategies for attracting our hearts and shaping our desires; therefore influencing the choices we make. The evil one’s and Jesus’.

The evil one’s strategy can be summed up in a word – More. I will be happier if I have more.  If some is good, more must be better. It is only natural for me to work harder to acquire more. More possessions, more influence, more friends, more security, more beauty, more, more, more.

This strategy develops a connection in our mind between what we possess (things, accomplishments, relationships) and our identity. It is tempting to think we are more because we have more; or are less because we have less. We judge ourselves and one another by these measures of success, leading to pride, arrogance, and independence from God.

St Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits said it this way: Having Riches leads to Honor (in other people’s eyes) which leads to Pride.

A more contemporary rendering might be: Acquiring More leads to Success which leads to Independence (Self Sufficiency).

This lie is hard to identify because it is relatively counter-intuitive. Why wouldn’t we want a bigger house if we could afford it? It makes sense to strive for more, working hard to enter that next pay grade so that we can take better care of our family and make sure they are provided for and don’t have to go without anything that would bring them happiness and security.

The wickedest aspect of this strategy is that it takes a good thing and turns it into an idol. For example, wise stewardship. Of course, God would have us consider the financial welfare of our family, the problem comes when we trust our bank account to provide the security that God alone can ultimately provide. We chase the More. We give lip service to trusting God’s provision, but our worrying hearts and anxious thoughts prove we have bought the lie. We say we trust God to provide, but live as if it were up to us and our hard efforts to accomplish the best.

Oh, Jesus, save us from these lies! We’ll talk about his strategy to influence our choices in my next post.

With you on the journey,

Debby