This Week’s Recovery Application Challenge
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In western society we tend to applaud and reward ambition. However, James, a disciple of Jesus Christ, writes in the New Testament the following:
“For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.” James 3:16 (NLT)
“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4:1-3 (NLT)
“Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” James 1:14-15 (NLT)
- Are you controlling? To what degree would you say you need to be in control?
- What and who in your life is within your control?
- What and who in your life is outside of your control?
- Take a minute and ponder this before answering this question. When considering your circumstances and relationships, how might you be in denial concerning expectations, control (or lack thereof) and dissatisfaction?
- James wrote in the New Testament that selfish ambition leads to disorder and evil. Jesus said we are slaves to sin. Even the Apostle Paul wrote that he was enslaved by sin. What would you say it means to be enslaved, or controlled, by the power of self-centered sin?
- What are you enslaved by? What things seem to have a grip on your life? What occupies your thoughts? What drives you emotionally? Process these questions together and explain.
- How does your answer to the previous question translate into behavior?
- The Apostle Peter wrote that our lusts war against our soul (1 Peter 2:11). Lust is desire that has grown into longing and craving, perhaps even coveting a thing. This is the conflict for the person who desires godliness in life. It is necessary to identify the things you crave. What do you need to be satisfied, today?
- What have you identified that you would agree have at least some power over you? Mark them with a ‘P’. What have you identified that you would conclude own you, even if you don’t necessarily see the harm in it? Mark them with an ‘O’. If left unchanged, what have you identified that will at some point destroy you? Mark them with a ‘D’. What have you identified that you want and/or need to be set free from? Mark them with an ‘SF’.
- The Apostle Paul, author of much of the New Testament, battled mightily with wanting to live a life that pleased God versus wanting to satisfy his own desires, urges, and intentions that he admitted were selfish and ungodly. He hated doing things that satisfied his own “needs” while in opposition to the purposes of God (Romans 7). Paul, like you, battled ambivalence—wanting things that are opposed to each other. To have the one thing you want is at the expense of the other thing you also want. Even at great risk he chose things that provided temporary reward but led to invariable loss and pain, while neglecting the things that were gainful and productive. The result was miserable internal conflict for him. How is this true of you?
- Having been honest and thorough in answering these questions, would you be willing to admit that you are addicted to you? How did you arrive at your conclusion?
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