Jerry Shkavritko

Stage 5 of 20

Desire

Want it strongly enough to pay the price. Burning desire + commitment = unstoppable force.

Core Question

Do I want this badly enough to organize my life around it?

What This Stage Teaches

Skill to Develop

Turning vague wishes into tested, specific, sacrificial commitment: proving desire through daily behavior, not intensity of feeling.

The Biblical Framework

  1. RECOGNIZE THE POWER OF DESIRE

    “But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire. Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.”

    James 1:14-15
  2. EXAMINE WHAT YOU WANT

    “But those who have a desire for wealth are falling into danger, and are taken as in a net by a number of foolish and damaging desires, through which men are overtaken by death and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all evil: and some whose hearts were fixed on it have been turned away from the faith, and been wounded with unnumbered sorrows.”

    1 Timothy 6:9-10
  3. IDENTIFY WHAT YOU VALUE

    “For where your wealth is, there will your heart be.”

    Matthew 6:21
  4. CHOOSE WORTHY DESIRES

    “So will your delight be in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires.”

    Psalm 37:4
  5. MAKE IT DEFINITE

    “So then I am running, not uncertainly; so I am fighting, not as one who gives blows in the air.”

    1 Corinthians 9:26
  6. ACCEPT THE PRICE

    “And every man who takes part in the sports has self-control in all things. Now they do it to get a crown which is of this world, but we for an eternal crown.”

    1 Corinthians 9:25
  7. PRACTICE SELF-CONTROL

    “He whose spirit is uncontrolled is like an unwalled town which has been broken into.”

    Proverbs 25:28
  8. TURN DESIRE INTO DAILY ACTION

    “But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.”

    James 1:22

Hill vs. Scripture

Hill

Develop a burning desire for your definite purpose: how badly do you want it?

Scripture

Examine your desires first: not every desire is worthy of being followed. The real question isn't how badly you want it, but whether it's worth wanting.

The Hard Questions

Exercise

The Price of Desire

Complete honestly: "I want ___ by ___. Because ___. To accomplish it, I will have to give up ___. I am willing to pay that price because ___. Every week I will ___." If you're unwilling to do those things, admit you don't actually want the goal badly enough.

DESIRE: Examine what you truly want, distinguish worthy desires from destructive ones, turn your legitimate purpose into a definite objective, count the cost, and prove the strength of your desire through disciplined daily action.

Stories for This Stage

From Scripture

Jacob falls in love with Rachel and agrees to work seven years for her hand in marriage. The text says the seven years felt to him like only a few days because of his love for her, which is its own commentary on what real desire does to how you experience sacrifice. Then, on the wedding night, Laban deceives him and gives him Leah instead. Jacob's response isn't to walk away. He agrees to work another seven years for the woman he actually wanted. Fourteen years of labor for one outcome is either obsession or proof of how much he actually wanted it, and the text treats it as the latter. Genesis 29:18-30.

My Story

Something you wanted badly enough that you actually organized your life, money, and time around getting it, and what you gave up to get there.