Resisting Temptation

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." (I Corinthians 10:13) 

We can all admit to being a little more than 'tempted' when we see some delicious dessert we crave, gaze upon a shiny new automobile we have been desiring or wanting to jump into the latest gossip session going on in the breakroom. We ALL are tempted - it is what we do with that temptation that matters. We can give into it, skirt our way around it without being too awfully scathed by it, or resist it entirely. I can say I have done all three! Skirted in my own efforts and barely avoided the temptation. Given in whole hog to satisfy some inner urge or desire. The 'resisting it entirely' hasn't always been my 'mode of operation' in life. How about you?

Give in and feel the guilt begin to mount. Barely escape by the skin of your teeth and you might feel a moment of victory, but you know the temptation is still lurking just barely behind you, tugging a bit on your 'will-power' to just 'give in'. Put God between you and the temptation and the matter at hand takes on a whole new appearance! The word for us today is that we CAN stand - we just need to be shown the way to endure temptation's pull without giving into its lure. Who better to show us the way to resist than the one who was tested in every way we could possibly be tested, but came out victorious each and every time?

It is not more than we can handle, but we don't 'handle it' in our own power. We need to nuzzle up close to Jesus if we are to resist jumping right in to share the latest piece of juicy gossip. He has given us the Holy Spirit to act as a sort of 'monitor' over our mouths, but we have to listen to the prompt he gives in the moment. When we start out by asking God to give us a sensitivity to the prompts of the Holy Spirit, we stand a better chance of avoiding the pull. Why? We have 'put first' the very thing we need to STAND as overcomers in the midst of compromising situations. Giving into temptation is most frequently linked directly to how well we have put Christ first in our lives. When he is in the lead - we stand. When we lead - we have no solid footing. Just sayin!