Pastor David Jeremiah challenged me when he said we need temptations to help us better appreciate Jesus’ love. Hating temptations, I felt intrigued by this idea, yet I realized I agreed. When we cannot resist temptations in our flesh, we must cry out to Jesus, and he enables us to resist the temptation. Then we cherish him more. So please join me as I explore this gift of Jesus’ love in the face of temptations.
I hate to let the Lord and others down, so I hate feeling tempted, because I do sometimes fall. I may become impatient and give in to annoyance and then hurt my daughters. My daughters might disobey and neglect their responsibilities (leaving me to clean their messes). Yet, if I am harsh with them, I act as a sinner too. I have fallen for the temptation to lash out, and then both Jesus and my daughters suffer. So I hate temptations.
Yet Scriptures say we can resist temptations, (1 Cor. 10:13, “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 you can endure it.”) One pastor clarified that we actually cannot resist the temptation in our flesh. Thus the temptation is “more than we can bear” in a human sense. Only when the Holy Spirit enables us, can we resist
When I realize I’m angry and then cry out to God, he allows me to soften my voice and speak calmly, even when I’m angry with my girls. I recognize the Holy Spirit’s power at work in me. And when I don’t hurt my girls or the Lord, I feel so thankful. Then my love grows. We must acknowledge our neediness to receive God’s strength. With that strength, our love can grow, because we realize Jesus helped us. We could not have resisted the temptation without his help. Our neediness and then Jesus’ provision feeds our hearts, and then our hearts grow in love for him. If we don’t acknowledge our need, we won’t ask for help.
Some pastors compare this to a disobedient lamb. That lamb kept wandering into danger and led the whole flock into danger. The shepherd had to break the lamb’s leg and then set the leg. Then he carried the lamb over his shoulder so the lamb would recognize his neediness. Unable to wander, the lamb had to rest while he was carried. He heard the shepherd’s voice closely and learned to trust this shepherd. When his leg healed, he trusted and loved the shepherd, so he wouldn’t want to stray anymore. He no longer endangered himself or others.
God sometimes has to do that with us so we will change our view of temptations. They seem like Satan’s cruel tricks to pull us away from Jesus. But Jesus can use our frustrations and temptations to draw us closer to him. Satan will accuse us when we fall. Jesus will forgive us and draw us back to himself instead of condemning us when we repent.
And when we feel the annoyance to become harshly angry, or the lure to over-eat, or the desire to waste time doom-scrolling on social media, or the temptation to do any other wrong thing, we learn to call out to God, “Help!” Being tempted is not a sin, but giving in to it is. We need to realize that when God says he will make a way for us to get out of our temptation, he does not mean we should linger when and where we are tempted. The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “Flee youthful lusts,” (2 Tim. 2:22), and Joseph did not linger near the seductive wife of Potiphar, but he ran out of the room (Gens. 39:12). God does not say he will give us supernatural power to linger where and when we are tempted. We must flee.
In some cases, we can learn moderation, such as a person who might learn to moderately eat sweets and not binge on them. But some people may always want to avoid some sweets. Others may grow out of their alcoholism and then be able to go to a restaurant that serves burgers and liquor and only order the burger. But some gals cannot do that if they have just begun sobriety over alcoholism. When we are the weakest, we must flee from the temptations and not linger.
We also need to let our minds change, so we do not believe we are stronger than we are. We will always need Jesus. Just today I felt the temptation to linger over worried and fretful thoughts. But I was eating my oatmeal, and I told Jesus I did not want to worry, so instead I savored my breakfast (which is my favorite meal of the day). Jesus enabled me to let go of the worry, and later in the day he helped me manage the problem I had been tempted to fret over. I would have lost my joy for the day if I had given in to the temptation to worry and fret. I cannot help the initial fear I feel. That is not a sin. But if I ruminate on my fear, that becomes a worry of sinful nature. I need to recognize my fear and then give it to the Lord and not linger over that fearful, worrisome thought.
We need Jesus. He can calm our fears. He can soothe our anger. He can feed our emotional hunger that we try to feed with too much comfort food instead of prayer. For all of our concerns and needs, he fills us. He will help us overcome our temptations, but not with a superwoman power. We must call out to him for help. We must acknowledge our weakness. Then he will help us. And when he helps us, we find our love for him grows.
So Pastor Jeremiah was right. Our temptations enable us to better appreciate and love Jesus. So we can join the Apostle Paul when he said in 2 Cor. 12:10 “That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and the troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” We do not enjoy the troubles—but we feel pleasure when we call out to Jesus in the troubles, and he lovingly replies. That is where the pleasure came for Paul, and will come for us. Best of all, we grow in our love for Jesus, as he pulls us out of our temptations.
I pray I have blessed you with today’s brief post. If you have ever felt Jesus’ love due to struggles with temptations, please let me know. I want to learn from my sisters-in-Christ. Thanks for joining us today!