Boom. Temptation lands.
Satan is enticing you to splurge through your new budget, or dial up that website you know should stay buried, or sabotage your efforts to show kindness at work by letting your temper fly towards a coworker, or whatever else has been convicting you lately. The temptation presses hard against your heart, like a gust of wind.
It isn’t actually the real problem.
There’s usually a “decision” phase in every temptation in which we’re still deciding whether to commit a sin. Sometimes it’s short or even near-instantaneous, a “cruise missile” moment (like the flare of a temper), but even then we have a split second to decide.
Do you notice an internal dialogue in those phases?
“You want to do this.”
“I don’t. But I kinda do, too.”
“Yes, you do.”
“But I shouldn’t.”
“It won’t matter. It’ll be okay. You’ll be forgiven. Go ahead.”
“But it’s not right.”
“God doesn’t understand. You deserve this. Go ahead.”
“I’m supposed to be getting holier here.”
“You can’t climb that mountain. I’ll always be here. Just get it over with and I’ll go away.”
“I can resist you.”
“No, you can’t.”
“I did it before.”
“OK, fine. You did. But do you really want to win again? You won’t get to feel good then. Holiness doesn’t feel as good as sin.”
Who is participating in this conversation?
In sin, temptation is the outside force. It’s no foregone conclusion that we fall to it. Paul teaches that God will “provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
But a conversation involves two sides. The temptation is only one of them.
Who’s the other?
“…but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15)
I know from my own battles that there’s evil desire within me, in contact with the temptation. It’s the double agent in the organization, the wolf in the fold, the traitor in the castle that keeps lowering the drawbridge. It does want what the temptation is hawking.
And the temptation has a point. I’ve won enough battles to get familiar with what’s required (a huge benefit of just getting some victories under your belt – sometimes to start winning, you have to start winning). But then the temptation switches to three-dimensional chess: “Yeah, you could win, but do you really want to? You could pray and send the temptation packing right now, but do you really want to? You could annihilate and expunge this sin permanently from your life through the power of Christ and the weapons he’s given you. But do you really want to?”
That’s the tough part. Our evil desire, our flesh, does not want to.
I believe our battle lies there. If I’m relying on repelling individual temptations, I’m fighting a holding battle. The victory comes when I no longer desire the sin. Taking off the old man and putting on the new, keeping in step with the Spirit that now indwells us, having every room in our lives taken over by God’s goodness, until the temptation has nothing inside us to appeal to. Until our minds are renewed (Romans 12:2).
Back to the battlefield, friends. Don’t lose heart.
Brandon J. Adams 
Good article man !! Bless you.
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Thanks, man.
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I often think of Sylvester the cat and his good and the good and bad angels that sat on his shoulders battling with Sylvester’s mind. Temptation is real, it’s a daily battle and it’s not a joke. Thanks for your words on this subject.
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Good to have you swing by!
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I love this post because it tells us to think outside the realm of the way “most” people view temptation. I’ve thought about it recently myself. Because temptation, as you laid it out here, isn’t just about wanting that drink or that girl or guy or {fill in the blank}. It’s anything that separates us from God and His will for our life.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I’m passing it along as well 🙂 Be blessed, brother.
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That’s true, great point, Stacey.
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Traditionally, our enemies are listed as the devil, the sinful world, and our flesh (or sinful nature). As you indicate, temptation can come from the devil or the sinful world, but the third enemy is also involved in our sins. J.
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Kind of an unholy trinity.
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Precisely!
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The chess comparison got me-so accurate. Temptation sucks, but I think understanding that we need renovation inside-out can make it a lot easier to conquer in long term.
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I totally agree. At least I hope so.
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So true!!
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Truth. I cannot deny my complicity when I fall into temptation. Then again, if my desire wasn’t evil in the first place, the temptation (whatever it may be on a given day) would not be so tempting!
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Exactly.
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Well done Brandon! Abiding in Jesus is not always easy, but it also is a decision. And what keeps us in that oneness with Jesus? His Word, prayer, obedience, love and listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The desire to abide in Christ more than to temporarily give in to the temptation is an indication of our mindset on the worth of Christ’s fellowship with us and us with Him. We’re talking what we truly value. But in order to value one must take the time to consider and earnestly look for the way that He provides to us to side step the temptation. The renewing of our mind is part of that process. Blessings my friend!
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Thanks, Bruce!
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That’s right Brandon…don’t lose heart! It’s a daily battle. That’s why we are called to die daily.
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Totally.
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Brandon, this is powerful! A renewed mind that is no longer tempted by that sin. Sanctification. And with a renewed mind I’m promised I’ll not only know God’s will, but that it is also good, pleasing, and complete. I ask for this. I long for this. I’m not fully there yet.
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I made a major breakthrough just this weekend, actually. Speaking better than I knew, I guess!
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Wow this was eye-opening! So so true but easy to miss!!!
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Good to have you here 🙂
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