Is There Good in Temptation?
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. —1 Corinthians 10:11-13
The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from the temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would ace temptations of another kind.
A person’s inner nature, what he possess in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling inner nature.
Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal—it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.
Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else—what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations—He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and 4:15-16).—Oswald Chambers
Journal:
· Have I ever felt that no one goes through the struggles that I do? Why do I feel that way? Is it really true?
· What can help me remember that temptations allowed in my life allow me to get a fuller picture of who God is and what He can do in me?
Prayer – Father, thank You that I can always count on You to see me through whatever You allow in my life. Help me to look at my temptations as You do. Lord, help me to allow You to do Your work in me through my trials and temptations. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
