Rethinking Pleasure in the Spiritual Life Many Christians quietly assume that pleasure and holiness are opposites. If something feels good, it must be suspect. If it’s enjoyable, maybe it’s worldly. But that isn’t the picture Scripture gives us. Pleasure is God’s idea. He placed taste in food, beauty in sunsets, laughter in friendship, rest in sleep, and joy in marriage. Paul reminds Timothy that everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:4). Solomon says that to eat, drink, and enjoy the fruit of our labor is a gift from the hand of God (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19). David goes further and says that at God’s right hand there are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). So let’s be clear from the start: not all pleasure is sin. The problem is not that pleasure exists. The problem is what pleasure can do to a distracted heart. A good gift can quietly pull our attention away from the Giver. Pleasure rarely announces itself as an en...
Tinku Thompson