⁠>> Click HERE to get free visuals, handouts and discussion questions for Conversational Counseling sent straight to your email! <<⁠

Who or what do you worship? God has given us His Word and creation to lead us to worship Him, but often as we behold the creation, we’re tempted to worship the created things more than the Creator. Sometimes we believe we need to kill our desires to avoid misplacing our worship, but these desires come from God. He created us to desire good and to enjoy life. What, then, do we do when our desires are corrupted?

In this episode, we discuss four desires that God gave us for our good: He made us for rest and beauty, He gave us a purpose to glorify and enjoy Him, He gave us agency to make choices, and He made us to belong in community. These beautiful things can richly bless our lives or they can be twisted into idolatry. Some of us use the comforts and enjoyment of life as an escape from the tough reality of our circumstances. Others may idolize achievement or the approval of others. With the ability to choose, we may devolve into control, often leading to fear or anxiety when our perfectly laid plans don’t come to fruition. The things we idolize are a product of one of these desires, a sin under a sin.

Even though these desires can be corrupted, they do not have to be completely eradicated. God has blessed us with these desires for purpose and community, and He wants us to experience and deeply enjoy the richness of His creation. As we think the thoughts of God and do the things of God, our affection for Him grows and our hearts begin to reflect His heart. When our hearts are focused on God, we are protected from the corruption of our desires.

Resources:

The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life: Connecting Christ to Human Experience by Jeremy Pierre

“Behold (Be Held)” by As Isaac

“What is Worship?” with John Piper

“How to Talk About Sin in a Postmodern Age” by Tim Keller

Conversational Counseling Season 7 on Story Work

S4 Ep. 8 / Fear of Man

“I Want, I Want, I Want” by Paul David Tripp

Season 8 of Conversational Counseling on “The Sacred Struggle: Sin, Responsibility and The Journey to Transformation.”

To sign up for free visuals and discussion questions for this season click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Our theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠As Isaac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This podcast is made possible by engineer and producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shane Selby⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, executive producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meleah Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠generous donors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Known Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Kocher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Brenda Payne.