Home > Work > When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy
1 " Now there was only one hope, the sovereign grace of God. God would have to transform my heart to do what a heart cannot make itself do, namely, want what it ought to want. Only God can make the depraved heart desire God. Once when Jesus’ disciples wondered about the salvation of a man who desired money more than God, he said to them, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). Pursuing what we want is possible. It is easy. It is a pleasant kind of freedom. But the only freedom that lasts is pursuing what we want when we want what we ought. And it is devastating to discover we don’t, and we can’t. "
― John Piper , When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy
2 " In other words, when all the supports of human life and earthly happiness are taken away, God will be our delight, our joy. This experience is humanly impossible. No ordinary person can speak in truth like this. If God alone is enough to support joy when all else is lost, it is a miracle of grace. "
3 " Indeed the devil thinks more true thoughts about God in one day than a saint does in a lifetime, and God is not honored by it. The problem with the devil is not his theology, but his desires. Our chief end is to glorify God, the great Object. We do so most fully when we treasure him, desire him, delight in him so supremely that we let goods and kindred go and display his love to the poor and the lost. "
4 " There would be no obstacles to overcome. We won’t fight for joy in heaven. But we are not there yet. "
5 " If we were perfect—if there were no remaining corruption in our hearts—there would be no fight. There would be no obstacles to overcome. We won’t fight for joy in heaven. But we are not there yet. "
6 " Most of your unhappiness in life comes from the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself. "
7 " DOING is often God's remedy for despair. "
8 " Absolute statements of our unbelief that we make in the darkness are notoriously unreliable. "
9 " By nature, we get more pleasure from God's gifts then from Himself. "
10 " The only freedom that lasts comes from pursuing what we want when we want what we ought. "
11 " The fight for joy is first and always a fight to see. "
12 " Don't make peace with the sin in your life. "
13 " Desire for and delight in God's Word are inseparable. "
14 " Salvation is the creation of new desires, not just new goodies. "
15 " Preferring anything above Christ is the very essence of sin. It must be fought. "
16 " God is glorified in his people by the way we experience him, not merely by the way we think about him. Indeed the devil thinks more true thoughts about God in one day than a saint does in a lifetime, and God is not honored by it. The problem with the devil is not his theology, but his desires. Our chief end is to glorify God, the great Object. We do so most fully when we treasure him, desire him, delight in him so supremely that we let goods and kindred go and display his love to the poor and the lost. "
17 " Well, God does not mean for us to be passive. He means for us to fight the fight of faith—the fight for joy. And the central strategy is to preach the gospel to yourself. This is war. Satan is preaching for sure. If we remain passive, we surrender the field to him. "
18 " We can draw no deadlines for God. He hastens or He delays as he sees fit. And his timing is all-loving toward his children. On, that we might learn to be patient in the hour of darkness. I don't mean that we make peace with darkness. We fight for joy. But we fight as those who are saved by grace and held by Christ. We say...that our night will soon- in God's good timing- turn to day. "
19 " God and God alone is the final, ultimate goal of our quest. All that God is for us in Jesus is the Object of our quest for joy. When I speak of fighting for joy, I mean joy in God, not joy without reference to God. When I speak of longing for happiness, I mean happiness in all that God is for us in Jesus, not happiness as physical or psychological experience apart from God. "
20 " Jesus calls for violence against our own lust because he loves our true and lasting joy. "