The Apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 12:31: “But eagerly desire the greater gifts.” So, I wondered, what are these greater gifts? Well, this verse leads directly to 1 Corinthians 13 where we learn exactly what those greater gifts are: Faith, Hope, and Love with the greatest of these being Love. These are what Paul teaches are the greatest gifts of God and our desire should be for them in all we say and do.
But first, what is desire? Desire is what we long for. These are the things that we strive to work for because they are what we want or desire in our life. They are our goals, what we want to accomplish. It could be a college degree. It could be a trade you enjoy like electrical, plumbing, or something else. Maybe you have a craft you want to learn like stained glass work or quilting. Whatever it is you desire, the bottom line is that what we desire is not a bad thing unless those desires turn into cravings or as the Bible talks about them “lusts.”
“Lusts” are something we want but are also something we can’t have. Typically, when we lust for something or many times, someone, our words and deeds go against scriptural teachings. Our cravings for what we lust after are so intense they get to the point we will do whatever it takes to get what it is we want. And it doesn’t matter what we have to do to achieve our goals. This is the stuff of murder mysteries and soap operas. Their plot lines depend on a character who wants something they can’t have and goes about getting it anyway. This was David with Bathsheba. It was Ahab with Naboth’s vineyard. Or Ahab and Moby Dick the white whale. It is unhealthy and leads to destruction and misery. They are never good because they are never biblical.
The problem is there is a fine line between what we desire and what we crave. When I was pregnant with each of my four children, I craved chocolate M&Ms. No big deal. Unless of course someone else wanted some of my M&Ms. Normally, I am happy to share whatever it is I have, but not my M&Ms when I was pregnant. Nope. Not happening. While this might be a silly example of a craving, it does highlight what happens when we move beyond desire into a craving…we become selfish. We think only about ourselves. We are certainly not loving which is what Paul teaches is the greatest of all God’s gifts.
Desires are great. We should have desires. Healthy desires are what God gives us and what motivates us to do more, to set goals, to be better than we are. Cravings? Well, they have a strong tendency to turn into obsessions. And obsessions lead us far away from what is right and good.
Peace,
Pastor Beth
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