Quod desideria cordis examinanda sunt et moderanda.
Aligning Desire with God's Will
The disciple is taught to surrender self-will and examine whether desires serve God's honor or hidden self-interest.
My child, there are still many things you need to learn — things you haven't yet learned well. What are these things, Lord? That you would place your desire entirely according to my good pleasure, and not be a lover of yourself, but rather an eager lover and zealous follower of my will. Desires often set you on fire and drive you hard — but stop and consider whether you're moved more by my honor or by your own advantage and gain. If I am the one at work in this, you'll be content with however I arrange things. But if some hidden self-interest is lurking beneath, then that — that is what holds you back and weighs you down.
The Discipline of Restraint
Not every seemingly good impulse should be followed, and even worthy desires must sometimes be held back to avoid greater spiritual harm.
So be careful not to lean too heavily on a desire you've already settled on, without consulting me — or you may come to regret it afterward and be displeased with what at first seemed pleasing, as though you'd been zealous for something better. Not every affection that seems good is to be followed right away, nor is every contrary affection to be fled from at first. Sometimes it's wise to exercise restraint even in good pursuits and desires — lest through a restless mind you fall into distraction, or through lack of discipline you cause scandal to others, or even through others' resistance you're suddenly shaken and collapse.
Bringing the Flesh Under the Spirit
The disciple must forcefully subject the sensory appetite to the spirit, training it in contentment and endurance.
Indeed, sometimes it's necessary to use force and to stand up manfully against the sensory appetite — and not to pay attention to what the flesh wants or doesn't want. Instead, you should work all the harder to bring it under submission to the spirit, even when it's unwilling. It ought to be disciplined and compelled to accept servitude for as long as it takes until it's ready for everything: to learn to be content with little, to delight in simple things, and not to murmur against any hardship.12
Read the original Latin
Fili, oportet te adhuc multa discere, quæ necdum bene didicisti. Quæ sunt hæc, Domine? Ut desiderium tuum ponas totaliter secundum beneplacitum meum, et tui ipsius amator non sis: sed meæ voluntatis cupidus amator et æmulator. Desideria te sæpe accendunt, et vehementer impellunt; sed considera an propter meum, an propter honorem tuum vel commodum magis movearis. Si ego sum in causa, bene contentus eris quomodocumque ordinavero. Si autem de proprio quæstu aliquid latet, ecce hoc est quod te impedit et gravat.
Cave ergo ne nimium innitaris super desiderio præconcepto, me non consulto, ne forte postea pæniteat et displiceat quod primo placuit, et quasi pro meliore zelasti. Non enim omnis affectio, quæ videtur bona, statim est sequenda: sed neque omnis contraria affectio ad primum fugienda. Expedit interdum refrænatione uti, etiam in bonis studiis et desideriis, ne per importunitatem mentis distractionem incurra, ne aliis per indisciplinationem scandalum generes, vel etiam per resistentiam aliorum subito turberis et corruas.
Interdum vero oportet violentia uti, et viriliter appetitui sensitivo contraire, nec advertere quid velit caro, et quid non velit; sed hoc magis satagere ut subjecta sit etiam nolens spiritui, et tamdiu castigari debet et cogi servituti subesse, donec parata sit ad omnia, paucisque contentari discat, et simplicibus delectari nec contra aliquod inconveniens murmurare.