2 Peter 2:1,2 …There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies … And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
Not long ago, while engaged in a conversation with another individual in recovery, I was given this advice. Scott, you just have to follow your dreams. We were talking about what had to change in our lives. This individual felt the secret was in following one’s dreams. I responded that I was pretty sure following my desires was what got me in this pickle in the first place…
Peter warns us in today’s passage that what leads us to stray from the truth is not necessarily wrong doctrine, but wrong desires. He reveals the reality that we often do not follow the truth, but rather, we follow our preferences. This has been absolutely true in my life. My greatest failures have not been a result of ignorance but rather of preference. I knew what was right. I just wanted what was wrong more.
It is not that all of my dreams are bad. I aspire to do good things too. I want to write a blog. I want to help others in recovery. The idea that all of my dreams are to be followed blindly however, is disastrous. My desires need a filter and that filter has to be God’s truth. I need to use the head to rein in the heart.
If a desire will lead to destruction, I should not indulge in it. If it will lead to life, then I can and should pursue it. I am not suggesting that I should aspire to be a cold, emotionless robot. I am however, insisting that my heart and my dreams are corruptible and need to be filtered. I am insisting that blindly following all of my dreams will be catastrophic.
When my eyes are on me and my dreams, I can convince myself of anything. How can my dreams be wrong… God wants me to be happy… God gave me these desires… I only live once… I deserve this… When however, my eyes are on God, I have the wisdom to know which dreams will lead to life and which will lead to death. When my eyes are on God, He guides and shapes my dreams to pursue authentic life in him.