On Unchecked and Excessive Desires

If we truly want to devote ourselves fully to God, then we need to take a serious, honest look at our desires — what they are and how far they go.

Desires themselves aren’t the problem. They’re part of being human. We naturally want things like life, food, knowledge, and connection with others. These are normal and even necessary. The issue is that, in both the natural, unspiritu person and even in someone who is only partly spiritually formed, these desires often aren’t properly guided or kept in check by a deeper love for God. Instead, they grow beyond healthy limits. They become self-centered, excessive, and sometimes even harmful — so much so that they can take control of a person’s entire life. When desires reach this point, they bring with them a constant sense of restlessness and inner turmoil. That’s why they need to be carefully guarded against.

The Difference Between Justification and Sanctification

When faith and love take root in a person’s heart, things change for them. Their arrival sets off an internal struggle, because they confront something already present — the corrupt tendencies of our natural state. These two forces have nothing in common, so conflict is inevitable.

But before diving deeper into that inner conflict — which, if sanctification truly takes hold, will eventually lead to the overcoming of our old selfish nature — it’s worth pausing to think carefully about how sanctification relates to justification.

Most people agree that justification and sanctification are not the same thing. Still, they’ve sometimes been treated as if they were identical, even by thoughtful writers. That confusion isn’t entirely surprising, since both share an important underlying idea: complete submission.

The Temptations of a Sanctified Heart (rewritten)

At this point, our goal is to give a broad but careful overview of temptation — especially the kind experienced by someone whose heart is genuinely given to God. We’re talking about people who live in assurance, whose lives can rightly be described as sanctified. Even hearts like these are not exempt from temptation, and understanding how temptation works is essential to living faithfully.

At its core, temptation begins when something is presented to the mind — an object, an idea, or a situation — that has the potential to stir the desires or move the will in a wrong direction. That “wrong direction” can take two different forms. Sometimes the action temptation urges is simply wrong. Other times, the action is acceptable in itself but becomes wrong because it is carried too far. Either way, when temptation moves beyond thought and gains the consent of desire or will — prompting action when there should be none, or excessive action where restraint is required — sin is always the result. 

Seen from this perspective, temptation shows up in two main ways.

The Joy of Faith When Everything Else Has Failed (rewritten)

Jesus told his followers plainly: “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33) Experience confirms it. No one is exempt — not even the most devoted believers. The hardships God’s people face are not only external but internal as well. They include struggles of the mind alongside suffering of the body, and sometimes those struggles become overwhelming.

There are seasons when the usual comforts God allows us — often gently and generously — are stripped away. Health fades. Friends feel distant or unavailable. There is no pleasure in social life, no success in work, no relief from pressure or persecution, and no pause in the inward assaults of temptation.

Everything that normally offers encouragement seems to vanish at once.

The Scholar and the Beggar (rewritten)

Tauler, a well‑known and highly educated preacher from the fourteenth century once spent eight years praying that God would lead him to someone who could teach him the true path to heaven. Eventually, he felt guided to a specific church porch, where he was told he would meet a man who could help him understand the spiritual life.

When the scholar arrived, he found not a teacher or holy figure, but a beggar dressed in rags.

He greeted the man kindly and said, “God give you a good day, my friend.”

The beggar replied, “Sir, I can’t remember ever having a bad one.”

Marks of Perfect Love (rewritten)

If the doctrine often called entire sanctification, evangelical holiness, or Christian perfection is true — or if the closely related doctrine known as assurance of faith is true — then an important conclusion follows. It means that even in this present life, it is both our duty and our privilege to experience the fulfillment of that great command: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.” In simpler terms, it means that it is possible to live in what can rightly be called perfect love. 

This leads us to a serious and deeply meaningful question: When can our love truly be called perfect? That is the question this chapter seeks to answer.

Before doing so, a few necessary foundations must be laid.

Shallow Emotional Faith Experiences (rewritten)

“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” — Matthew 13:18-23 NRSV.

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What we have said up until now naturally leads us to a few broader observations about what we might call the emotional form of spiritual experience. The position we are about to take on this challenging subject rests on two central ideas.

First, the human mind is divided into distinct faculties. It operates through the intellect, the emotional sensibilities, and the will. Emotional states belong to a real and significant subdivision within this mental structure.

 Second, the work of the Holy Spirit in the human mind is varied. At times, it may reach and govern the entire person. In other cases, it may act only on the intellect, or only on the emotions — producing certain real effects, while leaving other, more essential changes unrealized.