To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:3

 

After entering into a relationship with Jesus, as Christians we realize that our old lives of sin are in conflict with the Lord's will. We know that ultimately God's will is what is best because of his promise of all things working together for our good. The problem arises when our own wills or desires begin to conflict with God's. We understand that we must submit our wills for God's own but often we don't quite know how to do that. Ultimately we want God's will because of the promise it brings us but sometimes we get caught up wishing that God's will matched up with our own.

Too often, we assume that by God asking us to submit our will for his he must mean for us to sacrifice it. Whenever we think of sacrifice we think of a negative situation where we will be left in want and made to bear a burden in an effort to please our Lord. This is a deception because when we truly enter into fellowship with God our desire will no longer be for whatever we had, but for God's ultimate will. While we may sacrifice it to the best of our ability we try begrudgingly ultimately failing both to be content and to please the Lord. This verse reminds us that to do what is just and right is better than a bitter sacrifice. It is right and just to pray for deliverance from our selfish desires and to do that is what is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord. When we do this our desire begins to change.

The enemy convinces us that by submitting our wills for God's somehow we are losing out and are going to be made to live in want. In order to know what is right and just we must ask for God to show us his will. But how do we know if our desires are his will or our own? Examine each of your desires and try to see what the fruit of those desires are. If the desire brings about feelings of frustration, worry, pride, uncertainty, fear, or any other bad thing we can see that they are not of God. If the end result or action of a desire would bring glory to God and not just one of selfish gain we can see that these fruits are good.

All good things come from the Lord and we can rest knowing we are following his will. When our desires bring about good we will not be lacking at all, we will finally be content. When we do this our desire will be transformed to follow God. When the desire changes to following God you will no longer feel as though you are missing out and you will no longer feel as if you are sacrificing your will but you will know you are doing the just and right thing to do. It will be much easier than you had thought to do too.

Sometimes we feel like we are fighting our desires so much trying to do what is right and it's because we think we have to sacrifice the desire to please God. When this happens we can see that whatever desire we are struggling to give up has made us a slave. When we have to fight deeply within us and think we have to ward off want we see we have become slaves and once we recognize the fruits of our desire would be bad because of the good Christ has done in our lives we will wish to be rid of the desire. Because the desire wears us out and tests us constantly we must reach a point of desperation where we realize the desire is doing more harm than good and holding us back and therefore we will wish to be rid of it. We will become so tired of trying to fight the desire that eventually we will be able to completely surrender and will practically be begging God to do his will since our wills often times only lead us in circles of self torture because of the deception of the enemy.

God will deliver us from desires and free us from the slavery they cause. Sometimes we are able to handle little temptations of the desire as they come one by one successfully. It isn't until we finally grow tired of thinking the right thing to do means a sacrifice where we fight against ourselves will we be able to truly be delivered completely from the root of that temptation and see that our main desire truly is what is just and right according to God.

Because we will wish to be rid of our desire we will see we are submitting our wills for God's own and instead of being deceived into thinking we will be left in want of our desire we will see that our true desire all along has been God's will. We will no longer feel as though it's a trade off between our desire and God's because God will mold us to where our only desire is his will and when their is no inner turmoil we will see how he has changed us and made us hungry for his will. When we are striving after his will all the other desires we have had in the past will offer no more temptation because we will be receiving in full our truest desire: everything that God's will had for us. We will not be left in want or turmoil but in sweet contentment at his faithfulness.

 

 

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Dear Lord,
We see now how we often times become slaves to our desires by deception from the enemy. We pray that you will grant us the wisdom to see the fruits of our desires and to make judgments about your will based on them. Open our eyes and remove selfish glasses so we may see that anything that would bring bad is not your will. Make us grow tired of trying to fight within and against ourselves because of the deception by the enemy and mold our desires to be yours. By doing this you remove temptation and prove faithful. We are not left in want but have complete satisfaction at the work of your will. May it bring glory to you. Strengthen us to truly see our desires as what they are and to have the hunger for your will above them all. Give us a desire to do what is right so that we may please you and help us not to feel it is always a sacrifice that we begrudgingly must accomplish for that is not what you ask of us. In your holy name, Amen.