Is Lust Always Bad?

Lust has always carried a negative connotation whenever I have heard it. It just sounds like a dirty word. Just say the word "lust" out loud to your friend at a coffee shop and see the people around you turn a crooked eye. Usually, it is for good measure that lust holds such a negative inference. The Bible warns against lusting after things of the flesh, lusting after women, etc. But I wonder if lust is ALWAYS a bad thing. Is there anything we should be lusting after? I think the answer is yes.

In Galatians 5:16&17 Paul writes, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." I am not a Greek scholar, but I looked up the word "desires" in verse 17 in the Strong's Dictionary and found that word is the same as lust or to lust after or covet. So it seems that to battle the lusts of the flesh, which Paul outlines a couple verses later, we need to be lusting after something greater, which is Christ. So to walk by the Spirit seems to be a lusting after Christ and seeing him as supreme to the desires or lusts of the flesh. Once Christ is the supreme lust of our hearts, we will no longer gratify the lusts of the flesh because we will no longer be enticed by them. We will see them for what they are and be freed from desiring after inferior things. (Cf. Gal. 5:13).

So is lust always a bad thing? Usually it is, but I think we need to conquer our lusts of the flesh with a lust after Christ. Taking this back to 1 Cor. 10:31, I think God puts desires in our hearts. I desire to have a job so that I can support my wife in such a way that if/when we have children I can support our family on my income alone. I need to contemplate whether my desires are glorifying God, or glorifying something else.

Feel free to post your thoughts.

Life Verse

Hey All (if anyone actually reads this),

I was wondering if any of you have a life verse. By life verse I mean a verse you live by and that consumes your thinking, or one you'd like to have stamped on your headstone. I think this verse can change over time. Right now, I would say I'm on a 1 Corinthians 10:31 kick, but there are so many verses that rock me everytime I read them. Reply if you want, let me know what you think.

Daily Devotions with My Wife

I have been married for over a year. I approached marriage with a master plan to have superb, inspiring, transforming daily devotions in the Bible with my wife, but as I look back over this time, I think I can count the number of times this happened on two hands. It's not for lack of wanting, but I think it is for lack of trying.

My middle school baseball coach once told me that it takes no talent to hustle. I think this advice applies to my devotion life with my wife. I may not have the most compelling or insightful things to say every morning, but that is no excuse for not training my wife and I up in the Word. This morning, my wife was cooking pancakes for my breakfast. I started thinking how many times in the past year she has cooked for me. She is an excellent chef and I greatly anticipate and enjoy the meals that she makes. She also keeps excellent order of our house. I am reminded of Proverbs 31 when I think of all that she does for the family. I think the greatest thing about what she does is her consistency. She doesn't just cook one large meal and say that's it for the month. She takes time each day to make a meal. It's not always elaborate, but it is always satisfying. I think daily devotions should be the same way.

I am so grateful for her and was inspired this morning to have daily devotions on a more consistent basis. I know I don't have the greatest, or even a mediocre, track record, but I think I can start "hustling" and training my family to enjoy time together in the Word. I know she is thirsty for it. I encourage every husband to join me in hustling with daily devotions with our wives. We need to encourage them and lead them to draw closer to Jesus our Savior, and we can do this by spending meaningful time in the Word.

Please feel free to reply with stories or tips on how to make this goal a reality.

Hello World: The Purpose of this Blog

The Compleat Angler is a book written by Sir Izaak Walton in the mid 1600s. More a book on the contemplative life and less on fishing advice, I was recently impacted by Walton's willingness to fish not for the sake of catching fish but for experiencing the glory of God. As an avid fisherman I realized that, despite the uncountable number of fish that I have caught in my young life, my experiences were incompleat. I had been pounding streams and working currents with the sole (soul) limiting reason of catching as many fish as could be caught in a day.

Jesus opened my eyes and heart to living for His glory and finding my satisfaction fully in Him. However, I was fishing for my own glory and enjoyment instead of giving all of the glory found in creation to Him. Through reading The Compleat Angler, Walton opened my eyes to doing all things, especially fishing, for the Glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 states, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." I want to use this blog to post about the eating, the drinking, and the whatevers that I do and how they relate to the glory of God. I look forward to the contemplative life in considering how, and if, the things that I do are done for the glory of God. God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him.