Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living

No temptation has overcome you that is not uncommon 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 10:13

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you want to do something badly and you are quite sure that no one will know if you do it?  There is one catch‑‑you know that you should not do it.  It is against your better judgment and deep within your heart you feel that you should not.  Then you think, “Nobody will know and besides just this one time won’t count.”  That is the predicament of TEMPTATION and it is a dilemma as old as the human race.  Way back in the Garden of Eden, man first faced temptation and yielded to it.  From that day to the present, men and women, teens and children have battled temptation.  It comes in all sizes and varieties‑‑ there are as many different kinds of temptation as there are human predicaments.

When you are tempted to do something that you know is wrong, what do you do?  How do you face the problem?  There are two things that you can do.  Naturally, you can go ahead and do what you really would like to do‑‑yield to the temptation‑‑but this causes some mental gyrations so that you can convince your conscience that it is all right. To yourself you say, “But then everyone else is doing it.  Why should not I?”  You can tell yourself that if God put that desire in your body then it should be gratified.  You can say, “This time is all right, but I won’t do it after this.”  You can put your mind on the present and try not to think of the consequences or you can convince yourself that you won’t be caught.

It really takes no strength to yield to temptation.  It happens every day, but the second avenue to the problem of temptation is the one that leads in the opposite direction.  Frankly, the path leading away from temptation is not a very broad one.  It has a lot of growth that camouflages it and it seems that not too many people look for it; however, the person who wants to do what is right can find this path.  Do not think for a moment that emotionally and biologically you are forced to do what is wrong.  Here are some guidelines to help overcome temptation:

Face today’s temptation today‑‑not tomorrow.  More people fall for that line, “This is the last time I’ll do it,” than any other excuse.  Remember the chains of habit are often too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
Always remember that someone else has faced your temptation and overcome   it. You can, too, if you make up your mind to do so.  It takes far more character to say “No!” than to go ahead and yield.
This is the guideline that really counts.  Ask God for His strength to overcome the temptation that confronts you.  Perhaps, you are thinking, “Does God really care about my life?”  Possibly, you have not discovered His love for you, or you have not learned that He is interested in your life.  Listen to what Paul wrote to you: “No temptation has taken you but such as is common to men.  But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted above that you are able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).  Here God tells us that it is no sin to be tempted‑‑men have been tempted since the beginning of creation‑‑but God is faithful.  He will also give you the strength and power to overcome that temptation and do what is right.

When a person is tempted he feels pretty much by himself, but God plus you makes a majority.  One last thought:  Do right and you will never go wrong.

Resource reading: James 1:13-18