Your Desires Reveal Your True Self

Do you know why you want what you want? Has it ever crossed your mind to even examine your desires? Today, you're invited to do that very thing!

Dec 23, 2024

I read an article by Michael Wheeler of Harvard Business School a while ago on making necessary split-second decisions. Interestingly, Mr. Wheeler concluded that our choices always flow from our lifelong and deeply developed character.

Dr. Wheeler’s article “Marines Don’t Do That: Mastering the Split-Second Decision” concludes that making these kinds of decisions requires us to summon the better parts of our nature constantly.

He suggests, “Would you be comfortable telling your children what you plan to do?” But he doesn’t stop there. He suggests that we all need to surround ourselves with others with moral courage and the freedom of friends to ask us these same uncomfortable questions about our ethical behavior.

How do we develop attentiveness to this moral structure? And why does it matter?

I also want to remind us that this moral behavior (or lack thereof) isn’t about God keeping a “score.” It isn’t about balancing some “good vs. bad” moral bookkeeping that God considers to decide whether we are OK with Him.

This ISN’T the teaching of the Faith!

Many religious or philosophical systems teach moral codes that will help you be ethical. The Faith of Orthodox Christianity is about something (Someone) much more profound than mere behavior modification.

Look at our lesson today in Mark 10:46-52:

At that time, as Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimaios, a blind beggar, the son of Timaios, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you.” And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me receive my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

Now, think about this for a minute. A blind man is brought to a Man with the reputation of healing people. And the Lord still asks what seems to be a nonsensical question. No one in that crowd wondered what Blind Bartimaios wanted. And the Lord knew it, too!

So, why ask that question?

The reason goes beyond the mere moralizing that all too many people falsely believe is the purpose of Faith.

Jesus asks this question of Bartimaios to have Bartimaios reveal his true self to himself. If you tell me what you truly and deeply desire, you will know who you really are.

This is a fundamentally foundational question. It’s only by getting to this self-knowledge that I can see clearly what I need in my spiritual life to progress to being “like Christ,” as St. Paul tells us we are called to become! (see Philippians 3:10)

I won’t know where I’m profoundly broken if I never explore WHY I desire what I desire. Suppose I’m mindlessly living from one feeling to another, never stopping to examine my motives and my desires. In that case, I remain a stranger to myself, and, worse yet, I remain gripped by a spiritual illness I don’t even know I have!

The purpose of our disciplined Orthodox Christian faith is to get to the heart of who I really am and then be moved by God’s grace, the lifetime participation in the sacraments of the Faith, the steady rhythm of the worship and prayers of the Faith, and the purposeful attention to the practice of the Faith until my character is shaped on the deepest level of my person into someone who makes Christ-like split-second decisions based on my changed nature and not on my selfish desires!

Now, THAT’s a lifelong religion! That’s something worth pursuing forever. That’s big enough to invest my best energies and my sincere focus. But that is also a Faith that will not be reduced to some nostalgic sentiment or mere familiar words. This is a serious invitation to a practiced Faith that one knows is meant to uncover deep issues AND heal those broken places in me!

This Forefeast of the Nativity is a perfect time to confront the reason Christ came first. The miracle of the Incarnation is too wonderful to be caused by the tragedy of the Fall of mankind in the Garden. The Father didn’t send His Son to us simply so He could have Someone to kill on the Cross. No, God became flesh because He was determined to grant us eternal life and make it possible for us to become like Him by grace! And in becoming like Him, we would rise to the dignity of being made in His image. The miracle of the Enfleshing of God for our salvation is about finally being serious enough, attentive enough, and devoted enough to desire above all other desires to be made so spiritually and emotionally healthy that we are free of everything that would make us less than God knows we can be! This is WHY we celebrate Christmas!

Today, especially as we approach the Manger, where God makes Himself weak for us, let’s abandon reducing our faith to mere behavioral modification and get serious about becoming the new man or woman we were meant to be! No more playing at the edges of this wondrous lifelong faith! Let’s finally decide to live a Normal Orthodox life.

Your Desires Reveal Your True Self

Do you know why you want what you want? Has it ever crossed your mind to even examine your desires? Today, you're invited to do that very thing!

How do we develop attentiveness to this moral structure? And why does it matter?

Discussion about this post