Temptation and Life

1 Corinthians 10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man : but God [is] faithful , who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape , that ye may be able to bear [it]. 

 

The temptations and trials of life challenge us continually in our Christian walk.  For a newly born-again Christian these temptations can be especially confusing.  Some may even think,

 

Once you become a child of God shouldn't all of these trails and challenges be over? 

 

If God is living inside of us shouldn't we be delivered from all of these temptations?

 

The truth of God's Word is that you will face new and often stronger temptations and trials once you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior.

 

My goal in this text is to share some basic Bible truths concerning trials and temptations.

 

Every Christian needs to understand that the question is not "If you are tempted, what should you do?"  But instead is, "When you are tempted, what should you do?"  The fact is that every child of God will be tempted.  Rest assured trails will come your way that will test who you are in Christ and will reveal the content of your heart and life.  There should be no doubt, but that you will be tempted.  So, what should you do with temptations?

 

1. Prepare for Temptations.  James wrote:

 

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

If you will expect and prepare to be tempted then you will have a higher likely hood of responding properly to your temptations when they come.  On the other hand, if you just sit back and do nothing, and ignorantly believe that you will not be tempted at all, then you will be caught unprepared and will likely fail in the face of your temptations.  Failure leads to discouragement and depression in your physical lives.  Failure in the face of our temptations will lead to the same in your spiritual life as well.

In keeping with your preparation you need to also know that just because you are tempted does not mean you have already failed and committed sin.  Many Christians make the mistake of thinking that if they think about something that is sinful that they have already committed the sin.  Our adversary uses this misconception to defeat us when we are confronted with temptation.  Many base this misconception on a quote from Jesus Christ Himself.  Jesus said:

Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

From this Scripture many think that even just an evil thought is sin.  This is an improper understanding of this text, a proper interpretation begins with the following question, when a lustful thought enters your mind what do you do with it? 

 

• Do you take the thought and think on it? 

• Do you undress the woman in your mind? 

• Do you imagine what it would be like to be with this woman?

 

Or do you:

 

• Recognize the temptation of the thought and resist it?

 

A sinful thought at its very beginning is first a temptation to sin.  What you do with the thought will determine whether it becomes a sin or not.  If you begin to think on the sinful thought then the thought conceives, gives birth and takes on a life of its own.  This is when it develops into a sin.  But at first the thought is merely a temptation to sin.

 

Don’t be surprised if a sinful thought enters your mind.  Temptations will come.  But be prepared to resist the thought when it does come.  The end of a nurtured temptation is not worth its result.  Always remember,

 

Sin will take you farther than you want to go,

keep you longer than you want to stay,

and cost you more than you want to pay.

 

2. Pray about the Temptation – There are two quick thoughts here:

 

• You need God to give you the strength to over come your temptations.  Your temptations are common to all mankind.  Therefore, you can not say, “No one has ever been tempted like I am being tempted!”  We often want to believe our particular trials are especially strong, but the truth is that God as said that they are but common.  It seems strong to us because our temptation is based on our own lustful desires.  Hence, we must pray and ask God to help us to learn from, deal with, and find victory over our temptations.  The Bible reminds us:

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

• God already knows what you are struggling with so pray specifically.  Don’t beat around the bush with God.  God knows what is in your heart.  I think some Christians play hide-n-seek with their temptations with God.  Perhaps they are embarrassed that their sinful temptation is too graphic or terrible for God; but God already knows what is in your heart, He knows your every thought.  The best thing to do is just openly admit your temptation to your Heavenly Father and at the same time seek His help in overcoming the temptation.

 

3. Persist and Prevail over your Temptation -  you must always remember that there  are two agents at work in every temptation:

 

• Satan wants you to fall – Our adversary the devil, who hates you because God made you, will use anything he can to destroy you.  He is at work in every temptation striving to cause you to fall.  The difficulty here is recognizing him and his action in the midst of your trial.  He never comes at you as your enemy.  Instead he comes and tries to convince you that he is your friend.  He will say things like, “oh, you’re only human, just go ahead and get it over with; it’s just a little sin.”  He is the master of excuses and the master of deception.  Remember, no sin is a little sin; they all carry the same terrible cost and consequence.

 

• God wants you to stand – Our Heavenly Father, who loves us and gave everything for us, will use trials and temptations to cause you to grow and stand.  God will never tempt you with the goal of seeing you fall.  God has promised that no temptation will come your way that you can not handle.  He also promises to be with you in the midst of the temptation and to teach you how to stand and prevail over the test of the trial.  You must understand, accept, and believe that you can stand and win over the temptations that come your way, because has promised such in His written Word.

 

There are times when our temptations seem to hang on longer than we think they should.  At other times we wonder if we can continue to bear up under the test we have been enduring.  Yet, God is faithful, and God’s promises are always true and enduring.  You can win and as a result grow spiritually when you endure through the trials that God has brought into your life. 

 

There are some other practical things that can help you when you face temptation as well.  Here are a few.

 

1.   Don’t put yourself in a place to be tempted. 

 

a.   If you are struggling with alcohol, don’t go into a liquor store or keep alcohol in your home and avoid places where there would be alcohol. 

 

b.  If you are struggling with sexual sin.  Don’t put yourself in places where you will face sexual sin.  If you are married, be faithful to your spouse and satisfy your godly sexual desire with the one God has given you for that purpose.  If you are not married, if you find you cannot control your desires, get married and stay married; that’s God’s plan for sexual desires.

 

2.   Find a spiritual accountability partner – Find a trusted Christian friend to help you with your temptation.  Be sure your accountability partner is a born again Christian of the same sex.  Enter into an agreement with this friend whereby they know that when you are facing this temptation you will call them, or if you know when you will regularly face a temptation ask them to call you and hold you accountable.

 

3. Turn your temptation into spiritual growth – Determine that every time a temptation comes your way you are going to turn it into spiritual growth.  How?  The Bible teaches us that we cannot focus on God and focus on the world, ourselves, or sin at the same time.  So, every time your temptation arises in your life you take out your Bible and read a chapter of the New Testament, then pick out a verse of the Bible and memorize it.  Don’t ever forget, God wants to use your trial to make you more like Jesus, so let him.

 

Temptations will come into every Christian’s life.  They are common to every one.  The devil wants to destroy you by turning your temptations into sin.  Your Heavenly Father wants to use your trials to build you and make you more like Jesus.  The question is, what will you do with your temptations?

 

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