Although desire is the first step toward success, it can also be the ruin of a person. When mixed with greed, or fear, desire can turn into lust. In Galatians 5:16, 17 and 24 and Ephesians 2:3 St. Paul called this the rebellion of the flesh against the spirit. This rebellion will cause one to make choices which may not be the correct choices for your life.
There are other extremely important pearls of wisdom from the bible which will help us control the incredible power of desire. Two appear in Exodus 20. Thou Shall not covet your neighbors goods and thou shall not covet your neighbors wife.
These commandments ask us not to use our lust for money to attempt piling up an infinite amount of treasures and to respect others property and the members of their families. This doesn't mean we shouldn't collect money and become rich. It simply means that we shouldn't forget to share our gifts.
The third piece of advice comes in Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the poor in heart, for they shall see God. This means to go about our lives without a lust for money. It is not the money that will make us happy. It is what the spirit leads us to do, doing what we love, which will make us happy. And ultimately, if we are doing what we love, we will be successful beyond our wildest dreams
The point is, if we use desire while controlling our greed and fear, we will be able to use our natural gift of discernment much easier. Our minds are not clouded if we follow this advice.
I believe when most of us made a choice as to the path we would follow, the amount of money we could earn may have been the biggest, if not the only factor in our decisions. I believe it was a huge factor in my choice for a life path.
I chose engineering, because I liked technology and I liked using numbers, but the biggest reason was, I thought it was the best chance I had to living a comfortable lifestyle.
Desire is a little like dynamite. It can be used to blast holes in the side of a mountain or to remove bedrock from where a building is supposed to go. But if used incorrectly, it can kill you.
However, in the physical world you would only get one chance to do it right with dynamite. In life, there is always another gift which you can use if you misuse desire. This gift is also very powerful but, I don't know how it can be misused.
The gift is called redemption.
It is okay if you make the wrong choice, because greed or fear got mixed in with desire. As a wise old man I overheard once said, "I don't care what you did, I just want to know what you're doing about it".
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4 comments:
Hey Michael!
I love and admire your decision to change courses with your blogging and share thoughtful, chapter-by-chapter insights and analyses about Mr. Hill's awesome book. When I first started reading the book a bit over a year ago, I was inspired to blog about it, too (http://www.epiphaniesinc.com/blog/2006/07/06/hill-climbing-101/). However, I never did go back and give it the proper review it truly deserves. Thanks for the reminder. It already sounds like you're manifesting everything you need and want from your efforts. Good luck with the career transition, and landing your first (of many!) motivational speaking gigs.
Bold insight PLUS joy-filled action. That's the only way to go!
Keep on chuggin',
Lani Voivod
co-owner and "Content Lover" of Epiphanies, Inc.
www.epiphaniesinc.com
"A-Ha Yourself!"
P.S. Your wife sounds like an awesome woman. :)
This is fantastic! Thanks for pointing me over here!
Desire is HUGE. What kills me is that I see 99% of people with no desires at all, or worse yet, desires to have, and be nothing.
Josh
http://magnificenceblog.com
http://reachformagnificence.com
A real gift of this chapter for me is connecting with your "burning desire". That is a desire with passionate emotion. This is key because during the harder times a burning desire can inspire you to carry on.
Thanks for letting me know about your blog.
BTW. You mentioned Bob Proctor. His book is free online at bobproctor.com
As for me, I will still be covering the natural Laws of the universe on my blog.
jointhesecret.blogspot.com
A burning desire is the greatest of all motivators and stimulators.
However, desire of having is the sin of covetousness. So we got to be very careful.
The warning is given in the Bible
in 1 Timothy 6:9-10
"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
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