Our lives are determined by what we desire. It is misdirected desires that throw our lives into so much turmoil. If we are to change then we must change what we desire. Many people try to change by simply denying sinful desires and, though it may work for a time, it does not work in the long run. Of course, self-denial is part of it but there is something more important to do first. What you must do is surpass the sinful desire with a stronger desire. If you deny a desire without replacing it, you simply create a vacuum which will automatically get filled by some other less obvious sinful desire. So how do you surpass a sinful desire? This can only happen if God were to implant a whole new set of right desires in our hearts. It seems unlikely doesn’t it? But that is actually what God has done. He has put his Spirit in our hearts so that we can feel his desires from within. To put it another way, his Spirit brings a different ‘flow’ of desires within us. This doesn’t automatically transform us. What we have now is a choice, a choice between the desires of our sinful nature and the desires of the Spirit of God. Whichever desire you feed and act on, this is the desire that will grow. Every time you go with the flow of the Spirit, you increase the strength of that flow within you and you weaken the strength of your sinful desires. There is a river of God within you. Go with his flow.
Confess your misdirected desires to God and ask him to lead you according to his desires.
Read Romans 8:5-11
