Years ago in California, I was a Weight-Watchers leader (yes, there have been times in my life when I was fit and trim - I still feel pretty fit but the trim part is less obvious to say the leastt) and I would tell my members that they could eat anything they wanted and lose weight as long as they wanted the right things. The trick wasn't controlling what they ate, it was learning to desire what they needed.
The same thing is true in our faith journey. It is not about controlling our bad habits or resisting our carnal urges, it is about learning to desire what is good and right and just. The ancient rabbis would say, "Love and do what you will." When your desire is in the bestt interest of others, you will naturally do go for them and resist doing anything to harm them. That is precisely Paul's point in Rom 13:10, "Love does no harm to its neigbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
We don't need commandment to refrain from killing our loved ones, stealing from them, slandering them, etc. When we love someone, we want the best for them. Rather than take from them or harm them, we naturally want to give to them and protectt them. Love, while not replacing the 10 Commandments, fulfills its intent naturally.
Walking in faith becomes a much easier task when we desire to be like Jesus. We no longer look for excuses for failing to do the right thing or rationalizations for choosing the wrong thing. Instead, we will look for ways to please Him and naturally strive to walk in His steps. And, in the process, we will find that God empowers us to follow the desire of our heart if it is in Him: "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps 37:4).
When we train ourselves and let the Holy Spirit condition our inner self to want what God wants, walking "in the light as he is in the light" (1 Jn 1:7) becomes second nature to us and the desires of our hearts, which are the desires of God for us, fill our lives. Jus' Sayn.
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