In this article, we will talk about types of spiritual hunger.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6(NIV).
We eat or drink to feel satiated when we are physically hungry or thirsty. Later, those urges reappear, and we must eat and drink once again. Have you observed that the more you “feed” your spirit with Him, the reverse happens? The more of Him you have, the more you desire.
For many others, this is simply the way things are. Spiritually, they are content to eat when it is time to eat. Unfortunately, just like in the body, when you are filled, you often lose your appetite in the spirit. When you lose your appetite, you are unable to receive everything that God has to offer. And when you are HUNGRY in God’s Kingdom, He fills you fully. When you’re full, you’re eager for more of Him. It is, in fact, the polar opposite of the physical universe. When you consume Spirit food, you experience supernatural hunger. And it is this yearning that leads to faith. And trust is what motivates you to take the first step toward your destiny.
What Is Spiritual Hunger?
Spiritual Hunger is characterized by a lack of a sense of purpose, passion, pleasure, or joy in one’s life. Perhaps life feels like drudgery, or there is a battle to redefine a different life purpose after we’ve sent our children off to college or retired after a long and successful work.
Maybe we spend our days giving to others, and by the end of the day, we have nothing left to offer to ourselves. So we eat to self-soothe, detach, and numb ourselves from our thoughts and feelings about our lives. Spiritual Hunger, for whatever cause, is typically an indication that something deeper is asking for your attention.
Signs Of Spiritual Hunger
Do you have any doubts about your spiritual hunger? Here are a few red flags:
- Feeling fatigued and worn out
- Hope appears to be fading.
- Life is full of tension and worry.
- Wishing for fulfillment
Types Of Spiritual Hunger
You’ve been thinking about hunger. What it implies and how it affects you I believe it mostly makes you irrational. In the same way, that physical hunger might lead to a bowl of fries, spiritual and emotional hunger can influence your actions, for better or worse. When you look at your own life and the lives of those around you, you will see that there are some types of spiritual hunger to which we are all prone.
The Hunger To Please
What is it about making someone else happy that appeals to us? Is it the sensation of approbation, of someone else, thinking I’m worthwhile? Fear is the opposite half of the coin. Fear of being disappointed, of failing to measure up, of not being good enough But, honestly, what’s the worst that can happen if you don’t please everyone? What are the consequences of disappointing others? There is no real danger, just the one you create in your mind. Then we frequently blame the other person for failing to validate us.
The Hunger To Be Loved
This is essentially a reciprocal hunger. One does not simply throw their love into the world with no intention of receiving a return. As a result, the desire to accept love is equally a desire to offer love. What makes it so appealing? Is it just how we’re wired? Is it the most important aspect of ourselves? Or is romantic love required, or is it simply the hardest to locate and the most difficult to navigate, and hence has scarcity value?
The Hunger For Validation
This hunger can be hazardous when it is satisfied by the whims of another. We turn on others to tell us if we are pretty, clever, decent, successful, or anything else we desire to be. But if we can’t accept that we are all of those things based on our own facts and conviction, we’ll be pursuing it from the outside for the rest of our lives. Social media likes, approval, accolades, praises, or reviews are all wonderful to have, but they must be secondary to our personal conviction that we ‘are good enough.’
The Hunger For Success
What exactly is success? How did you define and then quantify it? Is it entwined with the validation equation? And what if you haven’t defined it but continue to pursue it – does it become a never-ending race with few checkpoints? I’ve seen this hunger tear an individual apart in the chase of a hazy idea of success, where the goalposts shift all the time and you never get to declare, ‘Great, I did it!’ Because you can absolutely make it – you can achieve a goal, fulfill your appetite, then change your destination and begin again. However, you must first agree on the guidelines with yourself.
The Hunger To Acquire
This is a hunger that seeks to fill a void while distracting you from something else. You keep gathering these things to yourself, sealing a hole in a bathtub that is actually leaking at the other end, whether you are thirsty for information, hungry for belongings, or accumulating abilities. When you are hungry for anything, you may feel temporarily fulfilled with each item you pick up. However, the same sensation quickly returns, and you wonder why it is so ravenous and difficult to satisfy; it is because you are feeding the incorrect hunger with the wrong food.
The Ending Note
It’s okay to feel hungry. It is fundamental to our human state. And we have various cravings at different seasons of the year. Like our bodily desire, which seeks sweet, savory, and nothing at all at times, our spiritual hunger swells and wanes, frequently beyond our control.
So we must consider what we truly desire, what types of spiritual hunger we have, and whether we can discover the answer inside ourselves. Can I find a method to high-five myself when I’m desperate for approval? Can I find joy in my own company when I’m looking for love? No, not always. We would never get out of bed to live, strive, or suffer if we were never hungry. But if we can identify our hunger for what it is, we might be able to sit and make friends with it.