Do we desire to renounce, or do we renounce our desires?

[bardegaulois]

This might seem like something of a pedantic distinction, since these are of course different ways of looking at the same issue. This has often seemed like a chicken-and-egg problem to me for a while, since in order to renounce our desires in order to live a more perfect life, we must first desire to renounce our desires...

I'm going to leave this as open-ended as possible for the time being, but has anyone any insight about the seeming oxymoron of striving to lead a life of renunciation of the things of this world?

[AveMariaPurissima]

Phillipians 2:13 came to mind, which says:

For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work.

Renouncing our selfish desires is a grace from God, but the initial desire to do so is also a grace, and I think that grace would logically come first...

Your question reminds me of how there have been times in my discernment when I've felt that the most honest thing I could pray was "God, I desire to desire to know Your will" because I didn't feel ready to simply say "I desire to know Your will."

 

I don't know if that's what you were going for...

[Nihil Obstat]

Well, the desire to renounce ourselves for the sake of God is, at its root, a desire for God per se. The desire for God is the one and only root for every legitimate desire we can have. Every desire that rises from ourselves is ultimately something to be purified and overcome, but the desire for God, coming from God alone, is a grace to which we respond and with which we must cooperate. Thus, these desires to draw near to God are inextricably tied with the desire to renounce ourselves, and as such these desires are the ones (the only ones, in fact) that lead to true freedom and the emergence of our true individual natures.

Edited March 16, 2016 by Nihil Obstat