I don't think some people realize how strong desire can be sometimes. Sure, people recognize the intensity of something like sexual desire thanks to its prevalence in media. People recognize the desire for money and power because of greed and vanity. Desire can drive people to control, manipulate, and abuse others. It can be a major player in acts of violence due to perceived injustices. Thinking back to the Fall in Genesis 3, it was desire that caused original sin in humanity. After all, "when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate" (Genesis 3:6). This is how temptation begins. After Satan has drawn someone into a desire for a distorted good, they can choose to act on that desire and sin, or they can reject the desire and resist the temptation.
Desire can be a force for good in this world too though. and that force must not be underestimated. Desire can lead a soldier to defend his comrades. It is the reason why a mother feeds her children nutritious food, because she wants them to grow big and strong. It's the source of authentic love and kindness in the world.
There are three things I've noticed in life that help me choose the good and not act on desires that lead me to sin. The first is that I need to pay attention to my thoughts, to my mind. The intellect and the will often work together. For example, if I smell a chocolate chip cookie, my intellect decides that eating that cookie is a good thing to do, and the will follows through. The same thing happens when I sin. My intellect sees something good, something desirable, in my sin. If there was nothing enticing about sin, I wouldn't do it.
At the end of the day, the desire for holiness must come before all others. Holiness is the only thing that will satisfy that desire permanently, both in this life, and in the life to come.
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