Temptation

This is just something I was working on...
IN CHRISTIANITY AS IN LIFE WE OFTEN FIND OURSELVES IN LOWS OR VALLEYS. We are tempted, and we fall to temptations, and we feel great regret at the consequences of our actions. Yet time and time again we find ourselves falling over and over again to the same situations. Why is this?
Most of the time we focus on the “greater evils” such as sex, drugs and alcohol. But what about the “lesser evils? Theses are in quotation marks because Jesus made it clear that no one sin is any greater than another. A little white lie is as bad as a big lie. But the point is that we seem to fall again and again even after we feel the Holy Spirit’s conviction on such matters.
Why is this? Is it a lack of healing? A lack of fortitude? I think none of the above. It has been said that as we draw closer to God and know Him more we form a closer relationship with Him and are compelled to do what pleases Him instead of falling to our sinful nature.
I do believe that we must endeavor to resist sin through constant prayer. We must also resist sin physically. It is the “lesser evils” that will take us by surprise. Anger, hatred, control, jealousy as well as such things as smoking, gluttony and a whole host of things that would draw us away from God.
Faith comes into play here. Our faith becomes stronger not only through the hardships we endure but also through loving God more and more. The bible says to “love the Lord your God with all your heart all, your soul and all your mind.” The more intensely we love God the less we are likely to want to displease him. The more we love God the stronger our faith is. For in loving God we come to realize that the world can do what it will to us. However we will prevail through the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Sin will through faith become a detestable stranger to us and the deceiver will be shown as the little pest that he is instead of the ferocious demon that he wants to be seen as.
So where does that leave us with sin and the Grace of Jesus Christ. Well, it is through repentance and sorrow that we are forgiven. Look for example at David and Saul. Saul sinned against God and was unrepentant. Saul disobeyed the Lord a second time and his kingdom was taken away.
David sinned with Bathsheba. He was a man after God’s own heart yet he tried to hide his sin by killing Bathsheba’s husband, and his own good friend. When Nathan confronted him he fell in repentance and begged for the life of the child. In repentance David’s kingdom was restored to him.
Even Peter had to be reinstated through repentance by the risen Lord. It is in repentance though we may fall many times that we are forgiven and strengthened. Is the “Sinner’s Prayer” just for when you first become a Christian. No. It is a prayer that should be said alongside the Lord’s Prayer every morning and evening. And always glorify the name of God as you pray for forgiveness. For, it is in glorifying Him that we begin to show our love for Him.
Thanks be to God.