Temptation and Sin Part 2

Temptation and Sin Part 2

Where do we all go from here? Many of us publicly (and many more privately) confessed the temptations and sins in our lives and although a few topped the charts – lust, anger, greed – many others were mentioned as well. Let’s see if I can give us a refresher list of our collective “sins of choice” – sex, money, power, ignoring the Holy Spirit’s direction, fear, lust, laziness (I like the word “sloth” but I’m not sure why), stubbornness, making television our god, lack of trust in God, lust, ingratitude, covetousness, lust, giving while expecting nothing in return, and I believe someone mentioned lust.

As I review the list (and this is a short list of the much larger list of ‘private’ messages I received and respecting their desire for privacy have not included their lists) I’m beginning to get a little depressed. But wait – God promises that he did not “give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and of self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7) From my first post, God also reminds us:

Remember – “No temptation has seized you except that which is common to man.” (1 Corinthians 10:13a) God reminds us here that none of us have invented a terrible new sin. Sin has been with us since the fall and those around you wherever you are reading this right now all struggle with sin – maybe even the same ones you struggle with. But God encourages us when he says, “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 10:13b)

From all this then, we can surmise that we should be emboldened by our faith, self-controlled and confident in the fact that we can escape any and all temptation by a God-ordained gift of a timely and obvious escape route…but, if that’s the case why are we all having such a hard time?

As I always do I’m going to get around to the answer but I don’t want us to miss the opportunity to think theologically about a very practical matter. So, here’s the question for the day – if God’s truth (i.e. the passages I refer to in this post) is in fact true, then why all the temptation…why do we all struggle?

Comment away!

Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net