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Avoiding temptation

Scripture: “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.  When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”  1 Corinthians 10:13.

So you become a Christian.  You think, “Follow Jesus:  that won’t be so hard.  Obviously, this is the way I want to live, so I’ll avoid all the bad things." Unfortunately, it is not so easy to avoid those bad things – those sins – that keep you away from God.  But the good news at least, as St. Paul noted, is that anything that has tempted you, has tempted others, as well.  Any sin you commit is not the first of its kind. Others know how you feel!                                                                                                              

But the even better news, he wrote, is that God will give you a way to avoid falling into the trap of yielding to your temptation and falling into sin.

"Get Behind Me, Satan!"

 In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, our Lord Jesus was sorely and brazenly tempted before He started His ministry.  Jesus had gone into the wilderness by Himself.  While He was alone and hungry, the Evil One tried to get Jesus to turn stones into bread, to have Him summon angels to attend Himself, and to make Jesus worship him.  Each time, Jesus used God’s Word to rebuke the Devil; Jesus would not give in to sin even if it made his life easier.                                

God does not want us to give in to sin either.  For us, temptation will probably not show up as the devil.  But we are tempted to sin – to make life easier for ourselves, to enjoy a pleasure not allotted to us, to avoid something we don’t want to do – in hundreds of ways.                                                                                                

Our temptations tend to show up in more earthy ways:  for the original humans, it was eating a piece of fruit God told them not to.  Have you ever taken a sweet, or something else, that didn’t belong to you?  That’s an easy temptation to fall prey to.                            As Jesus quoted in Matthew 4, and in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, God taught His Chosen People after they’d escaped Egyptian captivity. He humbled and tested them in the wilderness, allowing them get hungry and then to feed them, “to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3a)  The manna God provided was only available at certain times and certain ways, and the Israelites had to obey God’s words to be able to even eat.  We also have to depend on God’s Word for survival in avoiding sin. 

 It Gets Worse

It might seem like eating something, even if it doesn’t belong to us, couldn’t be that big a sin.  You might think of a small temptation, “It’s not so bad” or “Maybe just one.”  Does anyone ever stop with “just one?”  Isn’t the temptation for “maybe just another” great, too?  When does it stop?  If you can’t be trusted with something small, how can you turn away from great temptation?                                                                                         

In the story of Jesus’s temptation, we see the way evil tries to work.  First, Jesus was tempted to calm His hunger.  Next, He was tempted to test God, by throwing Himself off a high point.  Finally, Jesus was tempted to give up all His future glory for the ruling of the earthly realm, by worshiping the Evil One.                                                          

You can see how each temptation becomes worse and the sin deeper – a good reason Jesus told His followers, “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” (Matthew 26:41) In other words, be aware of what’s going on around you, and keep your focus on God, so sin doesn’t sneak into your life.                                                

What happens when you give in to temptation

 If we take something that isn’t ours, we could end up being punished by the law of the land, in hopes that we will learn our lesson.  That’s bad enough, but even if we aren’t caught and have no earthly consequences, doesn’t the sin wear away at us?  When someone continues in sin, they become immune to knowing the difference between good and evil, craving more and more; yet nothing will fill the void.                                                                           

Worse, we disappoint God and other people if we give in to the temptation.  Sin always hurts someone, even if it’s “just” ourselves – there are no “victimless crimes.”  If you lie, cheat, or steal, you become a person people can't trust. If you harm your own body, you hurt the people who depend on you.                                                                       

Giving in to sin becomes the habit, and soon, your life – and your relationship with God – could be destroyed                  

God Gave Us A Way Out

  Any new Christian has a host of sins to put behind them as they seek to live a godly lifestyle.  More mature Christians must constantly assess their lives to make sure sin doesn’t creep in.  It is just so easy to take the sinful way, especially if the sinful behavior is habit.  But we can place our trust in Jesus, and believe in God’s Word that He will give us a way out.                                                                                                              

The Bible tells us that Jesus “understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testing we do, yet He did not sin.”  (Hebrews 4:15)  As a human, Jesus experienced a sampling of all the sins and temptation that humanity falls prey to.  He knows how we feel; He knows our weaknesses!  So we can rely on His strength to get us past the trouble; we can use His goodness to distract ourselves from worldly evil.       Jesus knew how hard it can be to turn away from temptation.  When He taught His Disciples to pray (using what is now called The Lord’s Prayer), He addressed it by having them ask God, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.”  (Matthew 6:13)  In other words, we’re to pray that God will spare us from times of trial.  If He doesn’t, we ask that He help us makes the proper choice: to focus on Him and avoid the sin. Remember, it is set in stone that He won’t allow you to be tempted past your endurance.  That means that any temptation you experience IS one you can turn away from.  God has already given you the ability, and He is faithful .      

Results of Turning from Temptation

 Feeling temptation isn’t itself a sin.  Jesus Himself experienced temptation, but “He did not sin.”  He didn’t pretend He wasn’t feeling tempted; instead, He acknowledged it and dismissed the tempter.                                                                                             

When you see something you know you shouldn’t take, it is hard to pretend it is not there.  Instead, understand how you are feeling, and make the conscious decision to choose God’s path for yourself.  The more you make the right choice, the easier it becomes.  Choosing to turn from temptation becomes a habit.                                                                             

And most importantly, we eagerly expect God’s heavenly reward, which Jesus referred to in His Parable of the Talents.  The Lord encourages us to invest well that which God has given us – we don’t want to squander His gifts by yielding to temptation.  The master rewards his dependable servant, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!”  (Matthew 25:21)