Glimpses of Truth

Weakness or Strength?

Are you strong?  Or are you weak?  Maybe somewhere in between?  Oscar Wilde, the well-known British writer, summed up the attitude of millions of people when he said, “I can resist anything except temptation.”

Unfortunately, “resisting temptation” has gone out of style and “doing what comes naturally” is the “in” thing.  In Matthew 26:41, Jesus told His disciples to “watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.”  But when we read in the Old Testament about Eve, we find that ever since she battled with Satan in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been tempted to submit to evil.  She, like all of us, lost that battle with Satan, and every day thousands fall.

The alcoholic would have mocked you if you had ever even suggested that that first drink would have made him lose everything.  The convicted embezzler never dreamed that greed would overcome him and lead to a prison cell.  The loving husband and father, that ideal wife and mother would have laughed in unbelief if told they would yield to the lust that eventually destroyed their marriage and home.

Weakness or strength.  As a student at the Lyons Academy, Napoleon wrote an essay on the dangers of ambition.  Later, ambition destroyed him.  As he signed his first death warrant, the Roman emperor Nero commented, “Would that this hand had never learned to write.”

Temptation confronts not only the world, but also the godly.  The Bible provides many examples of people who took their eyes off of Christ and became weak and submitted to temptation.  David is a prime example.  He was the one that we know slew the Philistine giant, who reigned over Israel in kingly splendor.  But something happened.  He took his eyes off his God, and he allowed his life to become scarred with the guilt of adultery and murder.

Remember, Paul stated in I Corinthians 10:12, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”  Do you need strength?  Real strength only begins when one honestly acknowledges his need and his failure.  Temptation is simply the invitation to do wrong.  Sin, however, is the voluntary act of doing that wrong.  It is not sinful to be tempted, but it is sinful to yield to temptation.  You say, is there a way out?  Can we really be victorious over our sinful nature?  It is reassuring to know that victory is possible.  How is it possible?  As we place ourselves, our weaknesses, in the hands of a Savior.

This is Part I of a two-part series about weakness and strength, but remember this: during temptation, God is faithful.