The Temptation of St. Anthony by DaliThis post is in response to a friend that asked me what temptations I was resisting.
Upon accepting Christ the Son of God as Lord and Savior all my past, present and future sins were washed away out of God's sight; all He sees in me now is His Son. He paid the debt I could never pay by His death on the cross, He took the death I deserve and conquered it by His resurrection. And thus I have been justified, I am acceptable in His sight by my faith in Him. Beyond that saving faith I cannot be any more or less saved. BUT, at the core of my being I have received God's Holy Spirit, His life. That life desires to burst forth from the core of my being, but I know I can be quite stubborn and I often do not allow Him full reign. He seeks to express Himself in all that I think, say and do. That life-long (often painful) process is known as sanctification, which is a bi-product of being saved and a direct result of a personal relationship with God.
This, by the way, was one of the major points of contention in the Reformation. You are not saved through doing good works and being a good person. You are saved by faith in Christ, and that genuine salvation produces good works. It's an inside-out process.
For me, a temptation is anything that is contrary to how God wants to express Himself in me. A temptation is not only something that I should not do. It can also be anything that I do not do that I should do according to His will for my life. And it can be just about anything. The only reason I fail to do God's will is because I do not always actively put faith in Him. I often do not acknowledge that God is GOD, and that He is good, and that His will is the best possible thing for my life, for the lives of others and for His eternal kingdom. He is the almighty God of heaven...if only I could lean on that notion always and completely.
I know this might not be the answer that my friend wanted, but any specifics I might give about what temptations I battle with is ultimately irrelevant compared to what I have said. The question you should ask yourself is "In what way am I currently resisting God?"
4 comments:
The most painful of my personal temptations is ‘pride’.
Fortunately, and by God’s grace, I am likely to be the most humble person you would ever meet.
I thank God daily that I know my humility. It is almost an impenetrable shield of armor against satan's scheme to separate me from my Lord.
I am personally acquainted with my deep and abiding ability to forego all accolades.
However, it really bugs me that others don’t fully appreciate my greatness in this regard.
But, one day, all will see that I am truly a great example of humility.
God bless,
DSM
Heh, your ability to pick out nuance is masterful. By identifying your own humility as a virtue you risk being prideful about being humble.
I too certainly struggle with pride, which might be the reason I was unwilling to disclose specific sins that I battle with. Actually, pride might just be the source of all my sin because, when you get right down to it, pride is putting yourself in the place of God. And out of seeking to glorify the self flows (all?) sin.
And to continue the nuance to the end of the line, I could never resist one sin or have one iota of faith or allow the Holy Spirit to express Himself in my life were it not for the grace of God that reached (and continues to reach) into the gutter to save this poor, prideful sinner.
Yes, indeed. It appears that you too, have found the greatest power hiding behind the weakest of frailties in humankind. If only I could acheive the nadir of weakness, then I would be most like our Lord and Creator.
God bless,
DSM
p.s. I have felt quite puny lately. Hah! Things are looking up.
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