Battling Temptation

How many times have we asked ourselves, “Why did I do that again?” The Bible answers, “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).” Each person, everyone, no one is exempt. Everyone is tempted by something. Now, it’s not necessarily wrong to experience temptation. The problem is when we give in to our desires. What these verses describe is a pattern—a cycle—that we don’t usually see in the moment: something appeals to us, our desires are stirred, we consider it, and either act on it or don’t. It always follows that pattern.

It’s like fishing, “they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” Imagine being a fish—a hungry one. You’re swimming along and feel the need to eat when you see a worm floating in the water. It’s enticing. It looks tasty and so you take a bite. Before you realize, you’re hooked and dragged away. When we give in to temptation, our desire takes us to a place we know we shouldn’t go.

The power of temptation lies in its ability to make us consider sin in a positive light. We’re rarely presented with sin as it really is. Instead, we can only see the immediate benefits of taking the bait. The hook is always hidden. Even when know the consequences, the pull becomes stronger and temptation becomes more difficult to resist. Temptation doesn’t focus on the consequences, just the desire. The longer we think about it, the more comfortable we become with the sin itself. Temptation is a suggestion we entertain. The more we consider, the stronger our desires grow.

Think about a fire that is dying out. The wood has burned, leaving a heap of ash and dark embers. You might think there’s no life left in those ashes, but a breeze picks up and the ashes turn orange. You add some paper or kindling and before you know it: a flame appears. In a similar way, temptation adds kindling to those desires in your heart, stoking the fire until a flame appears. Every second we consider the temptation is like adding paper to a dying flame and our desires grow stronger and stronger.

So how can we stop this cycle? There are many things we can do, such as knowing our weaknesses, not watching certain channels, and controlling our thoughts. All of these are good, but the struggle goes much deeper. It’s an internal one that comes from desires that continue despite our best efforts to control our external environment.

The Bible recognizes this struggle, calling it an old way of living. But likewise, it also describes a new way—one that is free from always giving in. Under the old way, you are enslaved to your desires; in the new way you’re set free from slavery to destructive desires. Living the old way means that you will obey your desires; the new way means that you do not have to obey your sinful desires.

The difference between the old and new way isn’t our own effort. It’s Jesus. He sets us free from the old, destructive way of living. To be fair, the struggle still exists but you are not enslaved to the struggle. The work of God’s Spirit enables us to choose differently.