Temptation

Temptation is the weapon of the enemy. In the Christian worldview temptation is the means by which sin entered the world, through Satan's temptation of Adam and Eve. Of course, Adam and Eve are punished for succumbing to that temptation but the catalyst of their sin was the temptation that they were faced with. But one thing that must be made clear is that temptation is not a sin. Being tempted is not a sin and facing temptation is not sinning. Adam and Eve did not sin until they ate of the fruit. Remember that Jesus began his ministry by being tempted in the wilderness three different ways by Satan and he overcame all of them. If Jesus is recorded as the one "who had no sin" then this is clear evidence that being tempted or facing temptation is not a sin. However, temptation places a person in the position of choice to sin or not to sin. And this is where the struggle lies.

Temptation is hard to overcome depending on what it is we are being tempted with. Money, sex and power will always tempt us and cause us to make poor decisions because they tempt us more than something like an ice cream or a coffee. Based on what can be found in scripture, it is apparent that we are to engage with different temptations in different ways. Some temptations we must fight, with our will and the word of God. Other temptations must be removed by the means of our spiritual convictions and some temptations (the ones we probably struggle with the most) must be addressed by simply running from them. Jesus overcomes his temptations in the wilderness by holding on to the word of God as his source of truth and instruction. Others, like Joseph, run from Potiphar's wife when she tempts him with sex. Remember Elisha that rejected Naaman's handsome payment for healing him because it was a great sum of wealth. And also remember that David does not kill King Saul when he had the chance to do so and end his misery. Job is perhaps the most prominent example of a man who was tested and tempted into sin but does not succumb to rejecting God simply because Satan had taken everything from him. And finally, Daniel and his friends do not allow the temptations of the Babylonian empire to cause them to sin against God. Not one of these people in the Bible would testify that it was easy to overcome these temptations. But based on their circumstances they each handled it differently. There will be times to fight, times to remove and times to run from our temptations.

One temptation that I personally recommend running from is sexual temptation. Many times we sin because we place ourselves in a position and situation where we are most vulnerable, even though we know we will be tempted. Many times we place ourselves in positions of vulnerability and temptation even though we know what will arise. Some minor examples could include; guys who turn on their computers late at night in their room alone, girls who walk by the dessert store even though they don't have to, couples who meet in private spaces or the alcoholic that sits in a bar just to "look" at the drinks. A couple years ago I had the chance to hear Gary Thomas speak once at a staff retreat and he shared a story of his youth, when on a really hot summer day he went out without a bottle of water. The temperature was scorching and he knew this but he thought he could make it back home from an errand without drinking a glass of water first. As he was returning his thirst began to overwhelm him and each second felt longer and longer. Eventually he came across a home with a front lawn that had a sprinkler going. In no other moment or situation of his life did he ever think of drinking the water of such a sprinkler but at that moment it was the most tempting desire upon his life. He went to the sprinkler and drank from the hose. And although the water satisfied his thirst, once that desire was satisfied, realization of what he had done hit him. He just drank water from the hose of lawn sprinkler. He felt disgusted and had no absolute desire to drink that water ever again. A vast difference from the moment prior to drinking that exact water. So what is there to learn from this story? We can blame temptation for causing us to make bad decisions in our lives but sometimes the temptations in our lives come our way due to our lack of alertness, caution and readiness. Why was Eve even open to to conversing with the serpent to begin with? Do not even place yourself in a position to be tempted and you will vastly decrease the temptations in your life.