I Just Couldn't Help Myself

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. 
And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

 

How many times have we said, "I just couldn't help myself"?  I know I'm don't need to snack, but the pie was RIGHT THERE and (say it with me) "I just couldn't help myself."  Let's face it, if we didn't like sin then temptation would not be a problem.  However, sin feels good temporarily and it's fun temporarily, therefore we give in again and again.

 

Think about it this way, if every time you gave into temptation broke your pinky toe...it wouldn't take long to learn not to give in to temptation. But we are a stubborn species, are we not?  We are willing to endure consequence after consequence in order to have a few fleeting moments of pleasure.  Let me be blunt, how many marriages have failed because one spouse gave into temptation and for a few brief moments of pleasure destroyed the bonds of marriage?

 

But look at today's passage, there is NO temptation that is brand new!  There is NO temptation that has never been experienced before!  As the writer of Ecclesiastes points out, "there is nothing new under the sun."  AND God always has an exit strategy available to us!  So we lost any excuse we could offer! Sometimes that exit strategy is as simple as following the example of Joseph in Genesis 39 when he literally ran away from the temptation.

 

God helps us by taking away our excuses because He provides a way for us to resist.  Therefore, focus on Him and let the temptations of this world fade away!