Balaam and more

Reading about Balaam in Numbers, he doesn't sound like such a bad guy. In fact, if I had no other verses, I would say that he had behaved in a righteous manner. He refused great riches when bid to do what God said not to do. He said only the words God told him to say. He sought God every time.
But later, Balaam is killed in Numbers 31 by the Israelites.
It is only in other verses that we find that Balaam turned the Israelites away from God by tempting them to eat food sacrificed to idols and with sexual sins, probably including temple prostitution. And we find that Balaam was coveting in his heart the riches that he turned down. I am glad God gives us the extra verses because if it weren't for them, I would think of Balaam as a hero.
Balaam is mentioned 59 times by name. That's an awful lot, and yet we don't study him a lot. The most I knew about him for years was that he was the guy the donkey talked to.. But I'm thinking this is an incredibly valuable story.
Our actions can all be correct. Our words can sound righteous. But if we harbor the wrong desires in our hearts, in the end, they will take contol of us. I have no doubt that this is what brings down so many church leaders. Now, we all have sinful desires that creep into our lives. I don't think there is anyone that doesn't. But the key is to not hide them. If nothing else, take them out and put them in the full light of God's Word. Look at them honestly for what they are. Confess them to another, if at all possible. Be honest.
But I think what Balaam did was to try and hide his own desires from himself. He felt them, but he hid them behind a false self-righteousness. He wasn't just all talk, he even had the right actions. But in the end, his secret desires destroyed him.