Don’t Tempt Me

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

– Matthew 26:41

If you’re a current or former smoker, no one has to tell you how hard it is to quit the habit. As the famous author and humorist Mark Twain put it: “To cease smoking is the easiest thing I ever did; I ought to know because I have done it a thousand times.”

The same thing goes with Christ-followers when it comes to temptation and sin. Even though we’ve accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior — and asked him for forgiveness and received it — we still tend to fall back into those same behaviors that we thought were left far behind.

What’s the problem? Doesn’t the Bible say that becoming a Christ-follower makes us a new creation?

Indeed, it does. But let’s remember that our transformation is a work in progress that runs on God’s timetable. That often means it’s happening little by little, day after day. What’s more, the pathway along our faith-journey is narrow, twisting, and full of unexpected hairpin curves. And when we don’t keep our eyes on the destination, we often end up in a ditch.

But we shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus even told his disciples to expect bumps and potholes in the road. 

"Things that cause people to sin are bound to come,” Christ explained. “But woe to that person through whom they come.”

Let’s also consider a life-lesson taught by the apostle Paul — the Christ-follower who wrote much of the New Testament. In his 2,000-year-old lament that still rings true to modern-day readers, Paul complains that he continues to do the very things he despises. And at the same time, he fails to do the things he knows he should accomplish. So, here’s the obvious question: If one of history’s greatest Christians had so many problems with sin and temptation, what hope is there for us?

Paul’s struggles were nothing less than spiritual warfare — the same ugly conflict that we all fight every day in one way or another. But he has some good news for us that we’ll find in Romans 8:1:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

That means we’re free from sin’s power, and we don’t have to accept its dominance in our lives. Ultimately, it comes down to our faith in Jesus and his sacrificial death for us on the cross. And when we slip up and give in to temptation, we can freely ask him for help and forgiveness. He’s the only one who was worthy to pay for our sins, shortcomings, and mistakes — past, present, and future.