Thoughts For When You Are Tempted

This week, a good friend and I were getting honest about some struggles in our lives, things that we have a hard time breaking out of. You know those sticky issues in your life?

When I was growing up, I went to a Lutheran church, and Lutherans do something called "Confirmation" where you take classes all about the tenets of the faith, and then at the end, you get up in front of the crowd at church and there is a ceremony where you basically affirm your faith, declaring that it is your own and not just your parents'.

In my church's confirmation program, we got to choose our confirmation Bible verse, a verse that meant something to us. I chose Hebrews 12:1. When I went to Texas A&M, our college pastor said in a Bible study once, on August 27, 2000 to be exact, that, "Your favorite verse is a part of who you are and who He's called you to be." (I wrote this quote in the front cover of my Bible.)

Hebrews 12:1 comes right after a chapter that is full of stories about what people have been able to do because of their faith in God, including being "tortured" and "sawed in two". On the heels of that comes my confirmation verse:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Everything that hinders. I tend to picture thorny bushes that get stuck on your hiking pants. And this is what my friend and I were talking about this week. Those things that you get trapped in, things you want and then go for and then die for, things that capture you in their sticky web of slavery.

I once gave up tv and movies for a week because they had become to me one of those things that "hinders" and "entangles". I was not just watching movies and shows, I was attempting to suck life from them. And the thing is, in the moment, it would feel great, as if all my problems had gone away.

And then the show would be over and I would feel emptier than I had when I started. Those shiny people on the screen would be gone and my relationships with them and their lives would prove to be mere observation through a glass screen, kind of like looking through a window at toys you can't have. I am not saying that all tv or movies are bad, but they had become something I was worshipping and something that had power over me. It is easy to make good things into little gods, and to attempt to suck life from them.

In the midst of talking to my friend this week and sharing our sticky thorn bush stories with each other, I think I may have learned something important about the nature of temptation. I want to share it with you here:

I realized that whenever I am being tempted to do something bad, the voice that is inviting me to do said bad thing is very controlling and pressuring. The message is, "Look how pretty this is, how enticing. Do this or you will die." And, if I follow that voice, I find that afterwards, I have been made weaker, and I feel like less of a whole human being. Also, I seem to have less free will the next time that tempter comes a-tempting.

When I am being led to do something good, the voice in my head could be easily missed. It sounds more like an invitation. There is a real sense of free will and the opportunity to make a good choice, even when it is hard, but no feeling of coercion. It is as though I am being handed the opportunity to do something really special, but I can walk away with no obligation. If I follow this voice, afterwards, I feel strong and dignified and encouraged. I feel that I have been made more like God, that my tarnished surface has gotten a little spot of polish, and his light is reflecting off of my metal just a little bit more.

I have more to share on this subject, but need to get to bed. For now...

Keep running, friends!
You are not alone.

And it is possible to choose life.






A few more bonus thoughts:

I hope that this rambling blog post has given someone out there ammunition in your fight against temptation. Here are a couple more ideas that helped me recently.

• Remember that you are loved, and that it is important to talk to someone you trust when you are tempted. Expose this crap to the light! (Why? See Ephesians 5:13.) 
• You are not alone in whatever temptation you are facing, and God always provides a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13), even if it doesn't seem like it. Ask Him to show it to you!
• Remember that your longing for whatever this bad-for-you thing is could be just a mask covering your real longing, one for Jesus and for eternity and for a world made right. Sometimes life here and now is just broken and hard, and it can be tempting to make yourself feel good to get away from that reality. I challenge you to get really honest about it with Jesus instead. That is what I finally did in a recent struggle of mine, and it led me closer to Him.