Excessive or Disordered Desires

We now turn to the stem of the weed, which represents excessive or disordered desires. We mentioned in the first chapter that deluded thinking leads naturally and effortlessly to excessive or disordered desires. For example, if a person believes the lie that “I am a more worthwhile person if I have a lot of money and possessions”, a desire to have a lot of money and possessions naturally and effortlessly arises in the person. Similarly, if a person believes the lie that “I am a more worthwhile person if I do things well”, a desire to do things well naturally and effortlessly arises in the person. And if a person believes the lie that “I am a more worthwhile person if other people approve of me”, a desire to be approved of naturally and effortless arises in the person.

The average person believes hundreds of lies to be true, which leads in turn to the arising of hundreds of desires.

Fortunately, for purposes of exposition, these hundreds of desires can be clustered into three groups, just as the hundreds of believed lies could clustered into the three parts of the false self.

The first part of the “False Self”, which believes “ I am what I have”, leads directly to a desire to have a lot of money and possessions. This desire to “have enough” gets tied into the primal desire to survive, which can intensify this desire “to have enough to survive now and in the future” to inordinate heights.

Excessive Desire for Security

This excessive desire “ to have enough to survive now and in the future”,

We will call the excessive desire for security. This is the first cluster of desires, which arises from the first cluster of lies making up the “False Self.”

This desire for security includes physical security, financial security, and emotional security.

Physical security includes protection from harmful animals, humans, natural disasters, and diseases. It also includes food, clothing, and shelter and medical care so that we can survive and be comfortable, not hungry, cold or in pain.

Financial security includes a money income stream, or saved money or other resources to pay for the aforementioned things we need to be secure.

Emotional security refers to our closer relationships, especially with God, family and trusted friends, upon whom we believe we can rely when our security is at risk.

The Excessive Desire for Control

The second part of the “False Self”, which believes “ I am what I do” leads directly to a desire to do things just the way the “False Self” wants to do it. The “False Self” wants to control every situation and every other person to get the outcome it wants. The “False Self” often exercises control to achieve the security we discussed above. This desire for control is always self-centered, or more accurately “false self”-centered, and always in the service of the deluded, misguided “False Self.”

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