Desire is the deep-seated longing which can be directed either towards personal satisfaction or vital life goals. According to the Bible, the nature of desires can have both positive and negative impacts on our spiritual and moral life.
When desires align with God’s will and teachings, they become powerful motivators guiding believers towards their divine purpose. On the contrary, if unchecked, desires could lead to moral corruption and spiritual loss. Below is a simple summary of Bible verses touching directly or indirectly on the topic of desire.
What Desires Does the Bible Encourage?
The Bible encourages desires that lead to righteousness, godliness and love. In the New Testament, believers are often urged to desire spiritual gifts, particularly desiring to prophesy to edify, encourage, and comfort others. The desire to actively love and show kindness, to seek peace, to hunger for righteousness, and to aspire for a closer relationship with God, are all nurtured and supported throughout the biblical teachings.
Why Regulate Desires?
The Bible also warns against unchecked and undisciplined desires because they can give birth to sin that leads to spiritual death. Passions like envy, lust, and greed are often identified as detrimental, leading individuals away from the path of righteousness. Uncontrolled desires can result in negative outcomes such as moral failures, destructive behaviors, or even harm to others. Therefore, the Bible urges individuals to control and manage their desires ensuring they fall within the purview of Christian morality.
Who Helps in Regulating Desires?
According to the Bible, the Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in helping to regulate desires. As believers surrender to the guidance of the Spirit, they are less likely to be controlled by self-centered desires. The Holy Spirit aids believers to demonstrate attributes including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Thus, the Spirit serves as a divine aid in controlling and refining desires.
When Can Desire Become Sinful?
Though desire itself is not inherently sinful, the Bible teaches that desire can become sinful when directed towards forbidden or harmful things. For example, desiring another person’s spouse, coveting someone else’s possessions, or longing for unjust gain are typified as wrong. Bible warns that these are dangerous cravings that wage war against the soul, and hence should be combated with spiritual discipline.
Where Do Righteous Desires Lead?
In the Bible, righteous desires are essentially seen as seeds of spiritual growth. These desires, when pursued, bring individuals closer to the divine, promoting spiritual maturity and enabling them to experience the fullness of life as God intended. They also result in blessings, peace, spiritual fulfillment, and a deeper connection with God and others.
The biblical perspective on desire, therefore, is not of outright rejection but of discernment and discipline. In essence, the Bible underscores the need to correctly channel desires in a way that fosters spiritual growth, positive relationships, and personal holiness.
Below is the full list of bible verses on desire (King James Version – KJV). The list is ranked in order of popularity and we hope you find the inspiration you need.
Most Popular Bible Verses About Desire
Psalm 37:4
“4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Related Themes: Frustration Dating Happiness Life Business
Proverbs 10:24
“24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.”
Jeremiah 29:13
“13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Related Themes: Heart Youth Self Seeking
Matthew 5:6
“6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
Related Themes: Justice Holy Spirit Hunger Food Holiness
Proverbs 2:3-5
“3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.”
Related Themes: Discernment
1 Corinthians 10:13
“13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
Related Themes: Lust Self-Control Addiction Strength Temptation
Luke 10:42
“42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Psalm 145:19
“19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.”
Romans 13:13-14
“13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
Related Themes: Dating Lust Drugs Indulgence
Lamentations 3:25
“25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.”
Related Themes: Patience Waiting Patience Hope Loneliness
Hosea 6:6
“6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
Related Themes: Sacrifice Pleasing God Loyalty Mercy
Isaiah 40:31
“31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Related Themes: Hope Patience Strength Life New Beginnings
Psalm 119:10
“10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.”
Related Themes: Heart
Proverbs 8:34
“34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.”
Related Themes: Doors
Psalm 119:133
“133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.”
Luke 6:21
“21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.”
Psalm 119:20
“20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.”
Philippians 3:12-14
“12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Related Themes: Letting Go Focus Perfection Quitting Determination
Psalm 34:10
“10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”
Matthew 9:13
“13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Related Themes: Repentance Mercy Sacrifice Pleasing God
Philippians 2:12-16
“12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
Related Themes: Complaining Pleasing God Reverence Character
Psalm 40:8
“8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”
Related Themes: Pleasing God Happiness
Psalm 37:7
“7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”
Proverbs 4:27
“27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”
Related Themes: Self-Control Democracy
Isaiah 26:8
“8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.”
Lamentations 3:26
“26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”
1 Peter 2:2
“2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
Related Themes: Children Glorification Life Maturity Food
Song of Solomon 7:10
“10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.”
Romans 10:1
“1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”
Matthew 16:23
“23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
Related Themes: Satan
