Science has proven that our decisions are primarily based on what stimulates the pleasure centers of our brain the most. Does this mean that we all go around doing whatever makes us the happiest at the time with no regard for future consequences? That we don't have the ability to reason? or self control? Not at all. Otherwise we would all be drugged up and oversexed crazy people!
People are fascinating creatures. For some of us, having self discipline brings us great pleasure. For others helping other people does. Some even derive great pleasure from pain (Masochists). Therefore pleasure in and of itself has gotten a bad name for itself. It's thought to be the reason for evil in the world. If someone is pursuing their own pleasure then they must be bathing themselves in lust and power.
This incorrect distinction has lead many churches across the world to teach their congregation to deny their desires. Stop seeking Pleasureful things! And start seeking God!! Nothing could be further from the truth.
John Piper's book Desiring God is a fantastic book for Christians to read. He introduced me to the general concept of Christian Hedonism. His essential finding was that God is most pleased with you when you find the most pleasure in him. Think of him as a father figure who loves his children very much. What would a good father want for their children? That they obey his every word? Or that they are happy? (Hopefully they are happy, because they heeded his warnings) More importantly, does he want them to love him as a sacrificial obligation or out of a pure joy?
The problem for Christians is not when they pursue their own pleasures too much. It's when they don't pursue them enough and they settle for stupid pleasures that have no lasting value. God has come to give us life and to have it more abundantly. He knows what we need to feel ultimate pleasure. He made us. LOVE is the ultimate pleasure.
Think about it. What brings you greater lasting joy? Cheap sex with a random stranger, or helping build a house for Habitat for Humanity? Which truly gives you greater pleasure? To some of you like myself, one seems worlds more tempting. It has all the feel of being able to hit every pleasure center in our brain. But then when it's over it leaves us feeling empty inside, craving the next hit like a drug.
God wants you to retrain your brain. He wants you to change the cravings from things of the flesh to the two greatest commandments. He wants you to crave LOVE (and not the superficial butterflies in your stomach, but true LOVE) Both giving and receiving. There are many times Hate, Indifference, Ignorance, etc all stimulate the pleasure sensors in our brain more in the moment, but God wants to retrain your brain to find greater joy in loving, and that is what we should all be pursuing. Like a father God wants you to have the greatest Happiness and pleasure you can find, and he just so happens to know exactly how to find it.
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