“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.” — 1 Timothy 6:11–12
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
We use this from time to time in reference to which causes the other, or which by its existence gave life or meaning to the other. It’s a fun question at a dinner table. But it becomes a much more serious question when you apply it to your spiritual life.
Have you ever heard or read that we are to desire God so that we would pursue Him? This would imply that the desire comes first, then the pursuit. There is even a common phrase stating, “you won’t pursue that which you do not desire.” Sounds right. Feels right. But what if that’s not always true?
What if you aren’t always at a place where you desire it, but you want to be? Is there such a thing as pursuing something in order to desire it? Does one always come before the other, or does one always cause the other?
For leaders, this question isn’t academic. It’s the difference between staying stuck and moving forward.
Desire vs. Pursuit
Take a look at 1 Timothy 6:6–16. Paul is passing on to Timothy some life-changing wisdom and truth. As you read it, think about these two words: “desire” and “pursue.”
Desiring something means to long for it, to hope for it. The idea behind desiring something is that you already know enough about it in order to desire it. Right or wrong, you’re convinced you know what you want. In order to be impelled or governed by something, you have to already have it inside you.
The word pursuit means “to follow in order to overtake or capture; to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish.” Paul told Timothy that a man of God will pursue six things. In fact, he will need to fight for them. The six are:
Righteousness. Godliness. Faith. Love. Steadfastness. Gentleness.
Now here’s what’s fascinating. Part of pursuing one thing is to flee another. In this case, Timothy was instructed to flee the desire, the urging and longing for earthly gain and wealth. Did you notice that Paul used “desire” when talking about what to flee, but not when talking about what to pursue? Why not? Why would Paul tell Timothy to avoid desiring one thing without telling him what things to desire?
Could it be that young Timothy may not have had those desires yet? At least not like Paul did?
That’s a question worth thinking about because it opens up a possibility that most leadership teaching overlooks. And that possibility is that sometimes the pursuit comes before the desire. Sometimes you don’t wait until you feel like doing the right thing. You start doing the right thing and pray the feeling catches up.
The Leader Who’s Waiting to Feel It
I’ve worked with a lot of leaders over the years who were stuck in this exact place. They knew what they should be pursuing. They could name it, teach it, even preach it. But they were waiting to feel the desire before they would move. They were waiting for the passion to return before they’d get back in the Word. Waiting for the fire to come back before they’d lead with conviction. Waiting for the motivation to show up before they’d have the hard conversation or make the costly decision.
And while they waited, nothing changed.
This is one of the most common traps in leadership. We’ve been told so many times that passion drives action that we’ve made passion a prerequisite for obedience. But Paul didn’t tell Timothy to feel passionate about righteousness. He told him to pursue it. He didn’t say “wait until you desire godliness.” He said “fight for it.” The language is active, aggressive, and immediate. It doesn’t wait for an emotional green light.
If someone truly loves God, they will desire everything about Him and not the things of the flesh. This is, at its core, fundamentally true. Functionally, however, this does not mean that we all respond to the Spirit of God the same way and in the same timing. Some people wake up burning with desire for God and the pursuit flows naturally from that fire. But others have to fight through the desires of the flesh in order to pursue the truths of God. Sometimes you simply begin by claiming truth, fleeing the old desires, and pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness before you feel any of it.
And that’s not less faithful. In many ways, it’s more.
Pursuit as an Act of Faith
Think about what it takes to pursue something you don’t yet fully desire. It requires trust. You have to believe that what you’re running toward is better than what you’re running from, even when your emotions haven’t caught up to that reality. You have to take God at His word before you have the personal experience to confirm it. That’s faith. Real, gritty, Monday-morning faith.
For leaders, this is critical. Because leadership will regularly put you in positions where you have to act on what you know to be true before you feel the desire to do it. You’ll have to forgive someone before you feel forgiving. You’ll have to serve humbly before you feel humble. You’ll have to persevere in a hard season before you feel any sense of steadfastness. You’ll have to extend gentleness to a difficult person before you feel gentle toward them.
If you wait for the desire to arrive before you pursue the right thing, you may never move. But if you pursue the right thing by faith, the desire often follows. Not always immediately. Not always dramatically. But the act of obedient pursuit has a way of reshaping your heart. You start doing what’s right, and somewhere along the way, you start wanting what’s right. The pursuit produces the desire.
This is one of the reasons Paul called it a fight. “Fight the good fight of the faith.” Fights aren’t comfortable. Fights aren’t fueled by warm feelings. Fights are fueled by conviction that what you’re fighting for is worth it, even when every part of you wants to quit.
Flee and Pursue
There’s another detail in this passage that matters for leaders. Paul doesn’t just tell Timothy to pursue. He tells him to flee. The instruction has two movements: away from one thing and toward another. You can’t just add the pursuit of godliness on top of an unchanged life. You have to leave something behind in order to run forward.
For leaders, the “flee” part is often harder than the “pursue” part. Because what you need to flee might be producing results. The desire for recognition might be driving your productivity. The need for control might be keeping things orderly. The love of comfort might be protecting you from risk. Those things don’t feel like enemies. They feel like assets. But Paul calls them out as things to flee because they compete directly with the six things you’re supposed to be chasing.
You can’t pursue gentleness while clinging to the need to always be right. You can’t pursue faith while refusing to release control. You can’t pursue love while feeding the desire for personal gain. The fleeing and the pursuing work together. One without the other leaves you either running from something with nowhere to go, or running toward something while dragging the very thing that will slow you down.
Crawl, Walk, Run
So which came first? It depends on where you are.
It takes great character and integrity to live a life maintaining the desire for those six things we are told to pursue. However, it says much about your faith that you would flee the desire for the flesh and pursue truth even when the desire isn’t fully there yet. This kind of pursuit requires fighting the good fight of the faith.
If you’re walking and maintaining that desire, praise God. Keep walking. But if that’s not your story, then simply start with believing that it’s worth it. Believe that it’s worth it to stop chasing after the very things that bring you ruin, destruction, and great mental distress.
Then… crawl, walk, run. Pursue Him. Chase after Him.
You don’t have to have it all figured out before you start. You don’t have to feel the fire before you take the first step. You just have to be willing to move in the right direction, trusting that God meets you in the pursuit, not just at the finish line.
Next Steps for the Leader Navigating Desire and Pursuit
Stop waiting for desire to show up before you obey. If you’ve been in a holding pattern, waiting to feel passionate or motivated before you move, this is your invitation to start anyway. Pick one of the six things Paul lists, righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, or gentleness, and pursue it this week regardless of how you feel. Obedience doesn’t require emotional readiness. It requires willingness.
Identify what you need to flee. The pursuit is only half the equation. What desire, habit, or pattern do you need to run from in order to run toward what God is calling you to? Be specific. Is it the desire for approval? The need for control? The comfort of the status quo? Name it. Fleeing isn’t passive. It’s a deliberate decision to turn away from something that competes with God’s best for your life.
Give yourself permission to crawl. Not every season of pursuit looks like a sprint. Some seasons, faithfulness looks like crawling. Showing up when you don’t feel like it. Opening the Word when it feels dry. Leading with integrity when nobody notices. That’s not failure. That’s fighting the good fight. And it’s in the crawling that God often does His deepest work in reshaping your desires.
Ask God to grow the desire through the pursuit. This is a prayer He loves to answer. “Lord, I don’t fully desire what You’re calling me to pursue. But I’m willing to pursue it anyway. Meet me in the obedience. Grow the desire as I take the next step.” That kind of honest prayer positions your heart to receive exactly what it needs.
Read 1 Timothy 6:6–16 this week with fresh eyes. Don’t read it as a checklist. Read it as Paul’s heart for a young leader who was navigating the same tension you are. Notice what Paul tells Timothy to flee. Notice what he tells him to pursue. Notice the fight language. And ask yourself: where am I in this passage right now? Am I waiting for desire, or am I already in pursuit?
It will be worth it all. Then you can answer personally, “Which came first?”