Temptation…there’s help so you can beat it
1 Corinthians 10:13 When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so you will not give in to it.
2 Peter 2:9 The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation
Matthew 6:13 ….and lead us not into temptation..
Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.”
How are you at resisting temptation? I can readily admit, I struggle here often.
We are tempted several times throughout a day, sometimes throughout an hour. Different things tempt each of us. Some are tempted by sugar, others by pizza, others by cigarettes, alcohol, working, reading and on and on. We just fall into the desire to want, want, want more and more of whatever tempts us. For me, I love sugar, and pastry, pasta, breads, and wine, and I used to deal with cigarettes about controlling my life.
Satan is the master at tempting and lying, whispering you NEED to answer the temptation, give into it….’you’ll feel better, and it’s just this once…’ And your mind, if like mine, sucks that up. “Yes, true, I have not had that in three days, so I can just have a taste now. However, I have to cook the entire thing in order to have just a couple of bites….and isn’t waste a sin? I think so. I remember my mother telling of starving children….
By not giving into whatever tempts us to fall, it strengthens us in our walk with God, and it also gives us a source of pride because we did NOT give into the desire. We overcame.
Each time I’m teased, taunted, and tempted to follow my weakness, and choose (because our Lord equipped us with free choice) not to give in, even if I have had to beg the Holy Spirit for help, I feel a success. I know how much I crave sugar… and also how often I have given in. I am unable to fight my temptations always alone. There are times, I can argue with myself, tell me I’m being ridiculous, weak, giving in, a loser… But until I screech, ‘Holy Spirit, please help me resist and remember my body is a temple, and You do not want me poisoning it. For me, sugar, pastry, etc are poisons. I have one, well, maybe another….and let me grab just a bite (which is at least 1 tablespoon, well…maybe three tablespoons. I am equipped to fight the temptations, but I do have to ask for help to fight the battle and win. Sweets and sugars are not an issue for many. I wish it were not for me. But one for me leads to … well many, at least most of the time.
But those times I have given into temptation, listened to the lie of ‘just this one time. It’s no biggie,’ I have felt awful; guilt, shame, and disappointment. It just does not compare to the feelings of success when I walk away from my temptation of the moment. Please don’t think I am successful all the time, because that is not so. I am a work in progress. But I do know that resisting temptation brings me good feelings, and God rewards me with other things I enjoy.
What are your temptations? Are you usually successful at overcoming them? The Holy Spirit is anxious to help.
I’m a work in progress fighting temptations, walking through life and “Mybellaviews.”
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