From your earliest years, you yearn to want and to demand what you want. One of the first words from your mouth was, “Mine!” You see something, and from the start, your passion is to get it. And if you already have something, that tendency to share it with someone else is about as rare as finding hen’s teeth. Those things you want, are the very things you strive to obtain in your life.
This all drives you to want more and more things. The more you have, the more you seem to want. Where does it end? That passion to want more and more, can become a consuming fire in your life. Knowing that if you pursue your passion, it leads you to eventually getting the thing(s) you want. You need to be careful what you strive to get. Ralph Waldo Everson addressed a graduating class at Harvard University: “Young men, be careful what you want, for you will surely get it.” Wise words! The sooner you live your life not wanting everything that comes your way, the happier your life will be.
The fact is, though, that there are some things in life, that you would like to have. There is nothing wrong with them. You would enjoy having them, and in fact, you would glorify Christ better with them in your life.
So, how do you get those things you desire? The book of Colossians gives some much-needed aid in this matter: “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry” (3:5). Great advice!
To get what you want, you have to want those things, that glorify Christ. Glorifying Christ begins with killing the flesh. Eliminating those traits, mentioned in the above verse is a great start. Eliminating the bad, you get the good!
