Understanding and Dealing with Temptation
The term “The devil made me do it” is an expression that was made popular by the comedian Flip Wilson’s character Geraldine Jones on the Flip Wilson TV show during the early 1970s. The term is used as an excuse for justifying one’s wrongful behavior. However, the notion of pointing to the devil as the source for our wrongful actions goes back to the Garden of Eden when Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent (Genesis 3: 12-13). The Bible speaks of temptation in three ways: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2: 16-17). All three forms are noted in Genesis 3:6: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
As fallen human beings who have been made in the image of God, and living in a fallen world, we are constantly being bombarded with temptation in its various forms. The story of The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) is a powerful illustration of people succumbing to the temptation rooted in the pride of life - they wanted to make a name for themselves; consequently, God intervened and thwarted their plans. Temptation is inevitable for every living, breathing human being - even Jesus was tempted! Temptation in of itself is powerless - it’s when we yield to temptation, resulting in sin that the damage occurs. So how can believers in Christ avoid giving in or yielding to temptation? The first thing we can do is to look at the example of Christ when he was tempted. In all three attempts by the devil (Matthew 4) - Jesus responded with Scripture: “It is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” [Deuteronomy 8:3]; “...it is also written, do not put the Lord your God to the test [Deuteronomy 6:16]; and “For it is written: worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” [Deuteronomy 6:13].
In addition to looking at the example of Christ in dealing with temptation, we need to constantly immerse ourselves in God’s word so that when we encounter temptation - the Holy Spirit will help us use the Word of God to keep us from sinning.
Finally, shifting the focus from pleasing ourselves (Self-centeredness; lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and the pride of life), to God-centeredness - focusing on God’s will and his purposes for our lives goes a long way in helping us to resist temptation.
Temptation is inevitable and ubiquitous in our fallen world; however, as disciples of Christ we have been empowered by the example of Christ, God’s word, and the Holy Spirit to resist temptation. Yielding or giving in to temptation is sin - the consequences of which leads to separation from God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
Denny Barnett