Wrestling With Temptation – and Overcoming It

You’ve probably heard about the guy who said, “I can overcome everything except temptation”? Maybe you’ve said or thought something like that yourself. Temptations of every kind surround us, as pervasive as the air we breathe. And during this Christmas season, with commercials and ads bombarding us on TV, social media and phone apps, temptation seems to be surging at a frenetic rate.

It all started with Adam and Eve. They saw that first temptation – to eat of the one tree God told them not to eat from – and decided it was too enticing to resist. The result was the first sin, what theologians call “The Fall,” and humanity’s been wrestling with a sin problem ever since.

 

Temptation comes in many forms, and what’s tempting for you might not be tempting for me – and vice versa. (Emphasis on vice.) Centuries ago, someone in Christian tradition came up with a list of the “seven deadly sins”: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. But even those ‘big seven’ can manifest themselves in countless ways.

 

Lust might involve sexual desires, but can also pertain to lusting for a car, a house, a boat, an item of jewelry or piece of furniture. Anything that generates strong passion or longing, such as the lust for power or influence, or for prestige and prominence. 

 

When we think of greed, fictional characters like Ebenezer Scrooge and King Midas immediately come to mind. Individuals for whom too much was never enough. One translation of 1 Timothy 6:10 declares that “the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.” It does not say that money is the root of everything evil, but money’s tempting powers are definitely manifested in a multitude of ways.

 

Gluttony is an interesting sin because it’s often overlooked. When was the last time you went to an all-you-can-eat church supper and found someone at the end of the line looking at your plate and saying, “Now, that’s all you can eat”?

 

Personally, I think that if there’s an actual root for every kind of evil it’s pride. Because pride – excessive regard for oneself without being concerned about the interests of others – seems to undergird every one of the big sins, and probably all of the smaller ones, too.

 

However, as I’ve often told men I was discipling and mentoring, temptation isn’t sin. Temptation is being presented with the opportunity to sin. Sin itself is acting upon the specific temptation, deciding it seems like a good idea.

 

How do we know that temptation and sin aren’t synonymous? Because as we read about Jesus Christ in Hebrews 2:18, “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” Later in the same book we’re told, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

 

Putting it simply, we don’t have to confess or repent being tempted. Because even Jesus was tempted. Confession and repentance are needed when we succumb to temptation – whatever it is – and commit sinful thoughts or actions.

 

The question is how do we successfully deal with temptations, fending them off so they don’t lead to sinful behavior? We can be heartened in knowing that Jesus, our Savior and Lord, experienced temptation. We can’t offer the excuse, ‘But Lord, you don’t understand.’ Because He indeed can and does understand, having faced similar temptations – and probably worse than any we could imagine.

 

This is why the next verse in Hebrews assures us, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). God promises to provide the strength and wisdom necessary.

 

Another passage speaks directly and clearly to this perplexing issue of temptation and how to overcome it. The apostle Paul wrote to the ancient church in Corinth, offering this counsel: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And 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 that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:12-13).

 

These verses contain several important points. First is the warning: If we’re feeling smug, with an attitude of ‘I’ve got this. No problem,’ beware. That might be the time we’re most vulnerable. History is littered with sad stories of spiritual ‘giants’ who fell into sins they felt confident could never touch them.

 

The second point is whatever it is, the temptation we’re facing isn’t unique. We haven’t discovered some unknown sin no one has ever experienced before. We’re not the first ones to ever deal with the temptation we might be wrestling with right now. 

 

One other key point is that in His faithfulness God promises He won’t allow us to face temptations beyond our capacity to cope with them. If we’re willing to let Him, the Lord will always provide ways out of temptation. “A way of escape,” as another translation states it.

 

An old friend, a diabetic, admitted having a weakness for Krispy Kreme donuts. He often would drive past the donut shop when its red neon sign was on, “Fresh Donuts,” beckoning to potential customers. For my friend, the ‘way of escape’ was to keep driving and resist the temptation to turn into the parking lot.

 

Temptations are everywhere. We don’t have to look for them. They’ll find us. But they don’t need to defeat us. As Paul wrote elsewhere, “I can do everything through [Christ] who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Including overcoming temptation.

Gluttony, the ‘OK’ Sin?

This photo, taken in Budapest, Hungary some years ago,
shows the problem of gluttony and overeating is universal.

Several weeks ago I I heard a sermon on the sin of gluttony for the first time. Over the years I’ve heard preachers speak on a multitude of transgressions, ranging from drunkenness to dishonesty to various forms of sexual misconduct. But I’d never heard anyone address the topic of gluttony, which is defined as “overindulgence and over-consumption of food and drink.”

It wasn’t served up as an entire sermon, mind you. But the pastor devoted a sizable portion of his message to this huge subject. He provided a lot of food for thought, a real smorgasbord of insight on the weighty issue of overeating. No question it was a hefty topic to handle, but he presented it in a very palatable manner. For some of us, the discussion left us hungering for more.

I’m sure that for others, however, gluttony wasn’t the most appetizing item on the sermon menu. “Hey, pastor, you done stopped preachin’ and started meddlin’!”

Why, I wondered, is gluttony so rarely discussed in a setting where other sins are so deftly lambasted? Maybe it’s because gluttony is such a pervasive, seemingly universal problem. In the United States, one in every three persons is obese – at least 35 pounds over a healthy weight – and the vast majority of people weigh significantly more than they should.

And it’s always easier to criticize sins we can’t identify with, such as abuse of alcohol if we’re non-drinkers, or greed among the rich if we’re among the many that can barely pay their bills from one month to the next. But overeating and unhealthy eating? Hey, doesn’t everyone do that? Even many among the poor in our nation wrestle with weight problems.

I’ve often chuckled when traveling evangelists would come into town. On average I’d guess they weight upwards of 300 pounds. There might be power in the blood of Jesus Christ, but apparently not enough to push away from the dinner table – or to find somewhere to exercise regularly.

Perhaps it’s a misunderstanding of Jesus’ statement in the Sermon on the Mount when He declared, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6, King James Version.) Because it seems right after Sunday services almost everybody’s racing to the nearest restaurant to chow down.

Or maybe 1 Corinthians 9:27 is to blame, where the apostle Paul stated, “I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage." (Unfortunately, his word “buffet” is pronounced “buff-it,” not “buff-ay.”)

One other “biblical” justification for gluttony might be 1 Corinthians 6:19, where Paul told believers in ancient Corinth, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?” Yes, the apostle said that, but he wasn’t giving a directive to build bigger temples.

As someone has said, “If sin wasn’t any fun, we wouldn’t want to do it.” I can honestly say I’m never tempted to overindulge on liver, or Brussels sprouts, or turnip greens. Because I don’t like them, and they’re no fun for me to eat. But potato salad, coconut cream pie, grilled sausage or French fries, that’s different.

So, since virtually all of us struggle with this overwhelming sin of gluttony – and too often we lose the battle – let’s just ignore it and focus on more manageable sins, especially those we don’t practice, right?

Only one problem: In the latter portion of 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul makes a troubling observation stripping away our excuse. He wrote, “your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God…. You are not your own….”

There we have it. We are not our own. We’re only stewards of what we have, including our bodies, so we don’t have authority to use and abuse our bodies as we choose. And since, as followers of Jesus, we do have the Spirit of God living in us, we do have the power to overcome this fascination with food.

In 1 Corinthians 10:31 we’re told, “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” So the next time you pile on that third helping, or cut that second piece of gooey cake, or decide on potato chips and pop as a chaser for your pizza, just advise the Lord, “I’m doing this for Your glory.” And listen carefully to hear how He responds.