Building Spiritual Strength in the Battle Against Temptation
There are so many distractions in today’s world that it is easy for us to veer off course. Fortunately, God knows our strengths and our weaknesses, and He knows that even the most devout among us are vulnerable to temptation.
In the Book of James (1:14-15), we read that “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.”
This frightening passage paints an almost fatalistic view of temptation, seemingly indicating that there is no hope and no escape, but we know better. We have an advocate in the battle against evil — one who is supremely equipped to support us in this spiritual conflict.
As we see in I Corinthians 10:13, “no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.”
God will not allow temptation to consume us, and He will always provide an escape route when things reach a boiling point, but the final decision is still ours. We can resist and flee the temptation, or we can allow ourselves to be engulfed by it.
The best way to avoid such situations is to practice sound spiritual discipline, and for that, we turn to Galatians 5:16-17, which states, “I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
Stay strong, stay safe, and the Spirit will walk with us, guiding and protecting us every step of the way.
Until we meet again, Be Blessed! – Pastor John