Desires. Good or Bad

Are strong desires sinful?

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Rom 13:9 NRSV

Coveting is forbidden, of course.

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Mt 5:28 NRSV

But is strong desire always sinful? This idea is more Buddhist than Christian, although St Augustine disapproved of strong desire and passions of any kind. We need to consider that Augustine was influenced by Greek philosophy and his own guilt complexes.

Sadly, Western Christianity has often been unduly influenced by Augustine’s writings.

But maybe you are single. You are in love and want to get married. If your heart is not burning for your beloved, you are not right in your soul.

Longing comes from God, but longing can be good or bad. If we believe in Jesus, we must not be like the Buddhists who reject all longing, who want to live without longing at all.

Greed and fornication are certainly forbidden by God, but Jesus himself was a man with a strong desire in his heart.
 
Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; Lk 22:15 NKJV

God is love and his love is not cold love.

With Paul, God's love was like a blazing fire.

I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, Rom 9:1–3 NKJV

If you don't have deep longings, your soul isn't quite right.
God wants to release healthy desires in your heart.