Miselo shares his thought for the week; internal passions:

I want to talk about inner passions — desires from within us. The desires for things, the desires to have a certain thing come to pass, or to leave a certain reality for something to just become a realized thing in our lives. But in the meantime it lives within us and we cannot shut it down. These are strong desires. These are intense desires and they need to be met in some way or some form.

Now, where these desires come from could be God-given, or some desires we actually cultivate because of the things that we consume — the information we consume, the things we watch, what we listen to — and that causes us to desire things.

The problem comes when we do not have the resources or the ability to fulfill those desires, and this is where the conflicts start. James says in the book of James, chapter 4 verse 1,

“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”

James 4:1

What he is saying is there is a war of desires within us — an internal war waged in our members, already in conflict. So before we even start fighting with somebody else, it is because we are already internally conflicted.

Because of these desires, he says we lust for what we do not have and therefore we murder in our hearts — we actually sin within our hearts. He goes on to say we covet and cannot obtain. We start to look at what the neighbor has, what somebody else has that we do not have, and because of that the conflict grows like a fire. It starts to boil. Even when we come to prayer, verse 3 says

you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

James 4:3

So even when we ask for something prayerfully, we are sometimes praying to fulfill a selfish desire — self-gratification is the motivation in our prayer — and that is not an honest, humble prayer before God.

This is where the pattern can be broken. It is a pattern that starts from a desire within us, then a lack of resources to fulfill that desire, which causes conflict within and with others as it boils over. It can be broken if we choose not to neglect God. The cycle can be broken when we submit our requests and bring them before Him. The book of James says it nicely from verse 5:

The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously, but he gives more grace, and therefore he says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

James 4:5-7

In order to break this pattern of negative desires — desires we want to realize through our own understanding, our own resources, our own strength and abilities, to the point where we are ready to go to war even with our neighbors — God says to submit to Him. We need to learn to humbly submit our desires to God and let Him be the judge and the provider to meet those unmet desires that we carry.

Essentially, we argue and fight because we sit on the thrones of our own hearts, instead of allowing God to be the one who sits on that throne, making judgments about our desires and making provisions for them. Submit to God, resist the devil, draw near to God, and humbly let Him reign.

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.