For months unending, I struggled with temptations. Heck, I even fell for some. And just like you, I believed these temptations were really strong – I started to see sin as something one should fall into at some point in their lives.
But that is a satanic lie.
You are probably there too and you are wondering – can I ever stop having these temptations? Will I ever stop sinning?
I am here to tell you that “Temptations are not that strong and you are not that weak.”
That for me was the deliverance that I needed and it will definitely help fix the matter of sin for you.
Let us begin with the lie about temptation:
The Lie About Temptation
“The devil made me do it.” — a line too many have believed.
If this is what you believe, you will be surprised that the devil is innocent about your claims.
You see that is a lie that has made so many people to stay in the chains that have held them back by sin and temptations.
Among Christians, it is a general belief that temptation is a storm that is too strong to survive – and that sin is too unavoidable to not fall.
But that is a LIE.
So, What’s the Truth About Temptation
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man…” — 1 Corinthians 10:13
Temptation is not new, it is not sudden.
It has repeated itself for so many generations and it not new – just creative. Yes, sin is just creative and not new.
There is nothing that looks like a violation of God’s law and obedience to the devil that is a new low.
Nothing and that’s what that scripture is saying.
That temptation you feel, that thing you think is worse for you is actually something that millions of people like you have faced.
I got into a relationship and I kept struggling to not be all touchy with her and I felt I was the only one who was so tempted.
Then I approached an elder believer about my struggles and he told me about his and my jaw fell.
“Even you? You face this?”
I didn’t say that to him but those were the thoughts in my head.
And for you reading this, you might be feeling alone – the temptation you feel is peculiar to you – but you should be comforted to know that a lot of other believers have gone through that and came out spotless and victorious.
It could be something other than sexual immorality.
For you, it would be telling a lie, falsifying figures at work, joining others to defraud the company because they are underpaying staff, and so on.
Nothing is new under the sun and so is temptation.
Why Does it Feel Like You Are Weak?
One of the things that held me back with temptation, that made me feel like I had to fall or I was not supposed to stand was that I am weak.
This is a lie as well.
Sin’s work is to deceive the believer and that includes making you feel you can do nothing about it.
That is the problem.
You can do a lot about sin, you are not weak. In fact, when you think you are, the Bible says:
“Let the weak say, I am strong.” — Joel 3:10 (KJV)
Confessing or accepting that you are weak is what is making you feel weak. And I actually said “feel” because there is no way you can be weak as a believer.
Let me show you one of the biggest realities of your new life in Jesus and what you are capable of:
“So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.” — James 4:7 (AMPC)
The devil is able to flee from you (leave you alone) every time you resist him and the equation is to first submit yourself as the KJV puts it to God.
There is Strength on Your Inside
Say this simple prayer: Lord, open my eyes to the strength that already lives in me.
You must be feeling motivated about the fact that you are strong right but think about it – this is not the first time you are hearing something or reading something about dealing with sin and temptation.
It might be the last time you ever need it if you do realize this:
Your strength in fighting sin is not in your emotions or your willpower – it is in the awareness of and submission to the Spirit of God that lives inside you.
Your ticket to overcoming temptation is through the help of God’s Spirit. He in you is the reason you are strong enough to defeat sin. It is Him working in you that gives you the strength to say no when sin comes knocking.
Let us then begin to see temptation for what it truly is…
Seeing Temptation for What It Really Is
“Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own desire.” — James 1:14
Temptation is in levels.
According to the string of scriptures in James 1:14, we see three levels of temptation:
- Suggestion
- Agreement
- Action
You see this idea of “mistakenly falling into sin,” that is a lie from the devil as well.
There are no mistakes when it comes to temptation. All forms of temptations follow this pattern – it is suggested, you agree, and you act.
You fall because you act which is the last stage of the temptation lifecycle.
A practical example is the conversation between the serpent and Eve in Genesis 3:
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
This was the suggestion.
The devil was proposing something to Eve to say “why have you not considered eating of this tree?”
“Take a look at it, does it not look good?”
Now Eve recounts the instructions of God to the devil but he does not back down because you tell him what God says about sin.
You can see how he iterates the fact that there are no consequences for her action.
In a contemporary sense, the devil could be telling you – “Others do it as well and nothing happens to them,” “Oh c’mon, you can have sex with him and still ask God for forgiveness and He will forgive you,” “What is there in telling a lie to save your life?”
Those are some of the suggestions of the devil in the face of temptation.
Verse 6 is where the two levels are fulfilled:
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
The first part of the verse is where she agreed that the fruit was indeed great and could make her wise – which were all suggested to her by the devil.
At this point, the devil is no longer in the picture. He is not doing anything else. He is now watching you take the wheel.
From agreeing, she reached out to eat the fruit – the action.
That is exactly how temptation works. The problem is that when it comes as a suggestion, we smile at it.
We listen to the lies of the devil. Temptation should be addressed from the very point of suggestion.
The Promise of Escape
“God is faithful… He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear.” — 1 Corinthians 10:13
God never promised that temptation will disappear, He promised that it will never be too much for you to handle, and that is why those who fall are not overpowered but deceived into forgetting that there was a way of escape somewhere close by, and if you can start seeing God’s faithfulness in that way you will stop asking for less temptation and start asking for clearer sight to find the exit when it comes.
Walking in Victory and Not Fear
Prayer: Father, let my faith be stronger than my fear when temptation comes.
Victory is not the absence of temptation, it is the presence of confidence that temptation cannot win against truth, and that is what happens when your heart becomes so convinced of God’s power that even when sin shouts you stand still knowing it has no right over you, because those who walk in truth do not escape temptation by running but by standing on what they already know.
You Are Stronger Than You Think
“Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” — 1 John 4:4
Temptations are not all that strong and you are not that weak, you just forgot who lives in you, and once you start remembering that greater power, you will stop confessing failure and start walking in the authority that Christ already gave you.
This is the turning point.
Where sin and temptation stops being your master and becomes your opportunity to prove that you finally know who you are.
God’s grace is released to you if you have a struggle with sin. Shalom.