We're All Humans, Aren't We?

You Are Dangerous, Part II

Why are we tempted? Last week, I said it was because Satan wants to ensnare us and keep us down because he knows our fullest potential and doesn’t want us to ever meet it. We are dangerous people and he knows it. Instead of attacking us head on, what does he do? He launches a campaign of propaganda in order to get us to undermine ourselves and fall on our own swords or cut down our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We, then, become preoccupied with our own problems or other people’s that we forget what’s really at stake – our souls. (This is the point where I highly recommend C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters.)

Two things. One, why are we dangerous? Inside of us resides the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Trinity, of which the other two is God and Jesus. There’s something incredibly powerful and amazing about this thought: the Holy Spirit is the very living God, Creator of all things in the universe, residing inside YOU. People rarely think about this and Satan wants to hide this fact.

I know it’s a pretty heady concept, but the fact is by sending the Holy Spirit to live within us, God has given us the power to destroy evil and say no to temptation in our lives. We no longer have to be shackled to the weight of the world nor to our sins nor to the voice that whispers in our ears because we now have the same power that God has to overcome evil! Now, because we’re human, we still have our human attributes and are still wrapped in sin so we still and will have struggles with temptation. But, through Jesus Christ on the cross, God gave us a sword.

Which brings me to thought number two. How do we fight? There’s a lot of different ways, but there are three main things that we can do to overcome temptation and become Christians who are dangerous to Satan’s plans.

1. Run. If you’re in the middle of the road and there’s a semi-truck barreling down on you, you’re not going to stay in the way! For whatever reason, this is the most common thing that people do when confronted with temptation. We know it’s there, we know it’s coming, but we do nothing to move out of the way. Our mentality needs to change. We need to see temptation just as dangerous as we see an oncoming truck. See Genesis 39 for how Joseph literally ran away when confronted with a married woman who wanted to sleep with him.

2. Shrink It. A lot of times we tend to think we can’t control our temptations; they’re too big and like an angry bull on the loose. This is another lie of Satan’s. Our temptations CAN easily be cut down by our swords. The Bible’s clear in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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.” Once we start seeing our temptations for what they are, we can easily say no to them.

3. Clean. My wife understands this part. If there’s anything that’s dirty in our house, no matter how small it is or how localized it is in a specific room, the WHOLE house is dirty. Likewise, if there’s ANYTHING inside of you or in your life that’s dirty, everything’s dirty. Why tempt yourself over and over? Repent and get rid of it. See 2 Timothy 2:20-21.

The more you walk with the Lord in prayer, the more you read the Bible, the more you listen to the Holy Spirit within, running, shrinking and cleaning will become second nature because we will be increasingly aware of Satan’s plan and how to defeat it by making the right, Godly choices. We will no longer be weak and trapped, but instead we’ll be free and very, very dangerous to Satan’s plan.

– Matt