Temptation
Is this really true? At the core of every temptation is a legitimate need of mine, and the crux of the matter is how I’m going to get that need met?
I might be tempted to lie, but the underlying need might be approval. Maybe I’m exaggerating to make myself look good, or to get out of an uncomfortable situation.
It’s no fun to be thought less of, or worse yet, rejected, but to be sure, I will only find true security in knowing that God approves of me. And suffering the consequences of a bad choice might seem harder than lying, but I can trust God for His forgiveness, and His grace to walk through the consequences, whatever they may be, and come out with a character that’s been refined in the process.
Instead of taking care of my need for approval on my own, therefore yielding to the temptation, I can ask myself, How can I let God meet this need?
I was hard pressed to come up with a kind of temptation that didn’t stem from some actual human need; how about you?
And sometimes when I’m faced with a temptation, I’m not sure how to respond. I don’t always have the willpower to walk away (bag of potato chips, I’m talking to you!). But this I can do: I can ask myself, What is really going on inside me? What is the need that I have? And then I can bring myself back to this: God, I trust you to meet this need.
I agree with Neil when he says the basis for all temptation is basic human need. I never thought of it in such simplistic terms before. He goes on to say we will either look toward the world, the flesh and the devil to have our needs met or we will look to Christ who promises to meet our needs.
ReplyDeleteMichele I like the questions you present to ask myself when in the presence of temptation. What is going on inside of me…God I trust you to meet this need. I want to remember, in the storm of temptation, that Jesus has given me a way out, a trap door to escape the temptation before me and that I can handle it because He will not give me more than I can handle.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
"The essence of temptation is the invitation to live independently of God."
ReplyDeleteA powerful statement for me--It truly boils down to whether or not I want to be "God" and do what I want for myself, or crucify my own fleshy desires on the cross daily. God, I need you every hour of every day-help me to resist temptation and follow you!
"The power of temptation depends on the strength of the strongholds which have been developed in our minds as we learned to live independently of God."
I see these strongholds as the emotionally unhealthy patterns that I learned growing up. For example, alcohol was used extensively by my grandparents, and to a lesser extent, by my Dad, to deal with stuff. I choose to keep alcohol out of my home because it is a temptation for me just to have it around based on what I learned as a kid--drink and you can forget your problems!! God is more helpful than any liquor could ever be for me!