What You Crave (Part 2)
I want to take a moment and talk about ways to overcome unhealthy cravings and develop healthy ones. The methods I will share are not based on a step-by-step approach. They are centered around relationship with Christ and partnering with the Holy Spirit for transformation and breakthrough.
Self-Control
Interestingly, one of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control considering that the word itself implies a person’s ability to control themselves. Why then is it considered an aspect of spiritual fruit? While self-control is an act of one’s own will, it is also the work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. It is an attribute of the Holy Spirit that enables us to resist the flesh's power, the temptation to sin. (Romans 8:5) Setting our minds on things of the Spirit helps us to oppose the work of the flesh. The mindset on the flesh is hostile to God; Paul tells us in Romans 8:7 when the mind is focused on doing what it wants to do, it does not submit to God because It does not have the capability to. This person will live chasing after the wind, never satiated, and always craving more. In the New Testament, we see God's wrath carried out a little differently; because we have been given free will, when one continually rebels against God, his way of dealing with them is to give them over to their desires. (Holman Illustrated Dictionary, 2015)
The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
However, he will not force his will upon us; in giving people over to their desires, he lets the consequences of their choices chasten them for the purpose of drawing them back to himself; restoring and redeeming them from their fall. Romans 1:23-25 says this:
"and exchanging the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore, God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served something created instead of the creator, who is praised forever. Amen” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, 2009)
Jesus models self-control for us when he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness and did not sin. He fasted forty days and nights, which shows his extreme discipline to control the flesh's cravings. Even though Jesus was hungry after fasting, physically, he may have been weak, but spiritually he was strong. The very first place the devil tempted Jesus was in his appetites. The devil desired to exploit Jesus's physical vulnerability. Fasting is about self-denial more than it is about food. Jesus demonstrates through fasting the power released when we deny ourselves, to give up our will to do the will of God. Jesus told his disciples that if they are going to follow him, they must give up their way, take up their cross by crucifying carnal desires so that we may be able to endure to the end. (Matthew 16:24) Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil and tested by God.
The temptation and the test occur at the same time. While the devil tempts according to our own desires, God is testing our response to them. Will we just give in or will we respond as Christ would?
I imagine Jesus had in mind the purpose for which he was sent. If Jesus failed the tests in the wilderness, he could not be the perfect atonement for our sins. I believe Jesus’s motivation to fast for this length of time was you and me. Jesus was not motivated by a selfish desire; he was motivated by love. Jesus teaches us a very profound principle about self-control; he teaches us the grace to control self should be inspired by the desire to be like him. How hungry are you for transformation? How hungry are you to be able to look and live like Christ? I believe that self-control is the fruit of the Spirit because its aim is spiritual maturity. Self-control is an offensive weapon against the works of the flesh; it protects us from worldly indulgences.
Jesus’s response to the devil is that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4) This brings me to my following point for controlling the soul's cravings, which is making it a daily habit to feed on God's word.
Jesus the True Bread
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall not thirst." John 6:35 ESV
Friends, what are you eating that is shaping your cravings? In Mat. 4:4, Jesus tells us that our life source comes from the words spoken by God. Christ reveals God through the scriptures; In him is God's wisdom and fullness. He supplies the soul with nutrients that lend to eternal life. The bread that Jesus broke was his body, given to us as a sacrifice. When we take communion, we eat the bread in remembrance of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. As we remember him through receiving the physical bread, we are joined with him by one Spirit, the eternal, living bread. When I remember all that he has done for me as I engage him in the scriptures, I am overwhelmed by his love, and my heart softens and becomes positioned to pivot in the direction that pleases him. This may not happen instantly; it may take several times of reading the same verse or encountering the same test before I get to the point of where I can profoundly change my mind about a particular thing.
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall not thirst.”
John 6:35 ESV
In him is the fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures forever. (Psalms 16:11) The pleasure of craving Christ comes from the freedom in following him, in setting our affections on him. The Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but it is righteousness, joy, and peace in the Spirit of God. (Romans 14:17) Temptation and carnal desires have temporary pleasures; the benefits of being a citizen of the Kingdom of the son of God's love last forever. Consider these things in your pursuit for happiness and let your heart's desire be filled with things that please him. Make sure you include in your “my plate” diet, a serving of scripture and then take some time and let it digest through meditation, prayer, and stillness. Let the Lord strengthen you through his word and fill you until your next meal.
Watch Over Your Ear and Eye Gates
The longings of the soul come from what we see and what we hear. The sight or sound of something can cause a craving to occur. For example, the sight of alcohol can trigger a memory of a time you enjoyed alcohol and cause you to desire the alcohol even after you quit drinking. Therefore, a person just getting free from an alcohol addiction would not benefit from going to a bar too soon. Hearing a sermon can cause a person to grow in faith and invoke them to crave more of God, even if they do not know him yet. Depending on our pursuits' motivation, whatever we set our gaze on and incline our ears to, will entice our appetites. When I decided to launch my blog, I was consumed with the thought of will people receive me. I thought about how many people blogged and whether I would be drowned out by more popular bloggers. I would scroll social media and compare what others were doing, and it felt like I was swimming in intimidation. I would look at how many "likes" other people's posts were getting in comparison to my own. I felt small in the grand world of Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. What I was doing was self-sabotaging my own dream. I was selling myself right out of potentially impacting lives for the Kingdom based on a "like" or a "view." While it is true that I wanted people to engage in my content, I had to evaluate if I wanted them to like me or love Jesus. I had to decide if what I was doing was to glorify me or to glorify him. I had to take a long hard look at my heart and confront my desires. 1 John 2:16 says:
“For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world.” – NLT
John warns us not to love the world more than God; all that is in the world will pass away along with its cravings. Remember the greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22: 36-40) God does not hate the world; in fact, he loves the world so much that he sent Jesus to grant us eternal life to all who would believe in him, but Jesus was sent to shift our focus from the things that are visible to the invisible. Jesus is telling us to set our eyes on things that are not seen and to incline our ears to the Spirit of God. I would venture to say that the things we cannot see are more real than the things we can. He is calling us higher to a place in him where we see through the eyes of faith. Where we can take hold of things that this world cannot offer. Jesus came to give us peace and joy that the world could not give or take away. The world suggest that joy and peace is a result of everything going right in a person’ s life; but the joy and peace that God gives is not contingent upon what is going right or wrong in my life, but it is rooted in what Christ accomplished. Amid the trials of life, the pursuit of material possessions and achievements, Jesus is saying, "look up higher!" Look to him as your help, your source, your sufficiency. Listen, dear sheep, to his voice. He will lead and guide you on the path of life, into all truth. The Spirit of God will speak and reveal the wisdom of God.
“Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity." Proverbs 2:2-7 ESV
Listen, dear sheep, to his voice. He will lead and guide you on the path of life, into all truth.
If you become intentional about seeking God for wisdom and setting your heart to receive understanding, if you go after it like we go after earthly treasures, the reward is understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God. Why is the fear of the Lord a reward? When it comes to pursuing our desires, the fear of the Lord will keep God as the object of our worship; it will guard our hearts against idolatry. The fear of the Lord is connected to having the knowledge of God, and when you know him, you will long to worship him. You will find that his wisdom, his ways are not only higher than ours but better. The fear of the Lord is not to bring you into bondage again to fear but it is our inheritance as God’s children; it refers to having a reverence for God. In this place, your heart is readied or softened into submission to the will of God.
My prayer for you is that you take what you have read today and bring your heart before the Lord. Let him be the measure and standard for all that you do. The goal is not perfection, but to allow yourself to be perfected by him who is perfect until you come into the full stature of Christ.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing to others.
Going Deeper:
Matthew 4; Psalm 37:4; Matthew 6:21; Psalm 37:5; Proverbs 16:1-3; Proverbs 13:12; Jeremiah 17:9
References:
Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. 2009. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
American Heart Association . (2021). Retrieved from heart.org: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/how-much-sugar-is-too-much
Bible Study Tools. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/sin/
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary . (2015). Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group.
Pschology Today . (2021). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201501/why-cravings-occur
