When was the last time you were tempted to do something wrong? A month? A week? This morning? Peter Marshall, former Chaplain for the United States Senate, said, “It’s no sin to be tempted. It isn’t the fact of having temptations that should cause us shame, but what we do with them. Temptation is an opportunity to conquer. When we eventually reach the goal to which we are all striving, God will look us over, not for diplomas, but for scars.”
Temptation, in one form or another, attacks each of us. But fortunately, we have spiritual weapons for gaining victory over it. The Apostle Paul assures us, in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
No temptation will ever come your way that has not been faced by others. And if others can overcome it, so can you! Moreover, God will not allow any temptation to attack you that you are not able to overcome. God understands the problem of temptation and has given you a way out. These facts—that God is faithful, that He will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able to stand and that, along with the temptation, He provides a way out of it—encourage you to know you can conquer your temptation.
But temptation is not limited to our actions; thoughts, too, play a powerful role in pure living. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
If you would combat temptation, begin with controlling your thoughts. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). To overcome temptation, simply think right—think right until your thoughts are good thoughts and not bad ones. Then you will have the power to stop wrongdoing and return in purpose and dedication to God. When you do this, you receive forgiveness and pardon.
People who are victims of recurring temptation are prisoners of their own weakness. But Jesus came “to proclaim release to the captives and…to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). The worst jails are not made of iron bars and stone, but of thoughts. We imprison ourselves by our sins. But when we repent and surrender ourselves to Christ and want freedom from our sins, He sets us free. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Why not take a moment right now to thank God for his strength that will help you overcome every temptation?
