“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Galatians 5:16-17
For about a week or so, I’ve been craving a smoothie. I don’t know if it’s because it’s so hot outside or if it’s just because I love fruit smoothies but it has been on my mind a lot. I’ve had fruit, but for some reason it didn’t satisfy the craving because it wasn’t a smoothie. It was the same ingredients as the smoothie but it didn’t matter. However, a few weeks ago, all I wanted was ice cream. I brought it up literally every day to my husband that I wanted to get some ice cream and I wasn’t satisfied until I actually had the ice cream that I was craving. But then I just wanted more the next day.
A craving is a powerful desire for something. It’s compared to an addiction, a yearning or a longing. When you crave something, depending on your level of self-control, it doesn’t matter how much you try to forget about it or ignore it. Especially if you’ve created a habit of always giving in to your cravings no matter what they are. I don’t know about you but sometimes I have really good cravings and sometimes I don’t.
I used food as an example because it’s something that most people can relate to and don’t see as a big deal. But what happens when your craving goes beyond food? What happens when whatever you crave isn’t beneficial to you? What happens when your craving is attention and you do whatever you can to get the attention of others or you’re not satisfied? What happens when your craving is a drug and you don’t feel relaxed or like you had a good time until you took some? What happens when your craving is sex or sexual acts and you don’t feel satisfied until you get what you want?
If we continue to let our flesh, our desires, our nature lead our lives, we will continue to crave things that are opposite to what God has for us. But if we let His spirit lead us, then we will start to crave things that please Him. Some of us wonder why we can’t stop craving certain things that we know aren’t good for us. The reality is, your flesh has control over you. This is why when we’re in God’s presence, we only crave what is good for us. In those moments, we’re letting the Holy Spirit guide us. But when we are concerned about our flesh and what we want, you can expect to crave things that won’t do you any good.
Half of the reason why we wrestle with our cravings is because we think that we should only be in God’s presence two days out of the week. We believe that when we’re in a service or with other believers that those are the moments we should let the Spirit guide our lives. But the real test comes when you’re not in church or bible study. The real test comes when you’re not surrounded by other believers. If we only let the Holy Spirit guide us sometimes, we can expect to keep being ruled by cravings that won’t benefit us. But when we let the Holy Spirit guide us, our cravings will begin to change because we’re no longer letting our flesh control us.
Today, I encourage you before you act to check your motive to see what is controlling you. Trace where your cravings are really coming from. I believe that God will show you the root of each craving and lead you to what is beneficial to your life.
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