Can I Really Resist Temptation? How?

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 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 

 If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it.

 Since there was so much sexual immorality and idolatry being practiced in Corinth, Paul gives the church a model for withstanding temptation.  I think it is the most helpful and practical model the bible gives us.  First of all let's all admit that we are all prone temptation all the time.  We are deluged by messages that incite us to indulge our sinful nature whenever we feel like it.  Note I am not talking about developing a puritannical, rigid and legalistic viewpoint of the gift of sex, or other pleasures God gives us to enjoy in the right context and within God's guidelines.  Paul is talking about a rampant sexual immorality which is taking down the church and its leaders, and is greatly diminishing their ability to be a light of Christ in the Corinthian culture.  

 So Paul gives them a model to overcome temptation.  What is it?

 1. Don't get prideful.  Pride is the slippery slope to falling to temptation. Pride says, "I can handle this!"  "I am the exception!" Pride comes before the fall.  Most people who go through moral failure never thought it would happen to them.  

 2. Temptation is common to all people.  When you are tempted you might feel like you are the only one going through it.  But the reality is everyone has probably experienced the temptation you are being tested by in that very moment. 

 3. God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. Though temptation may at times feel impossible to resist, you never HAVE to give in to it.  You still have free will and God will empower you to endure if you are willing to trust in his faithfulness and in His Spirit. 

 4. When you are tempted God will provide a way out.  There is always a way out when you are being tempted.  An escape hatch if you will.  The only question is are we willing to look for it and take advantage of it.  

 So though we would like to say,  "the devil made me do it" when we fall to temptation.  The reality is you never HAVE to sin.  It is a choice.  Secondly, if you choose to resist sin, God will help you to find a way out to escape it.  God will always be faithful to us to get us through a trial, if we trust in him by using these steps.  

 I find that when I am tempted and give in, it is usually because i really don't want to find way out. I would rather be in control rather than give up control by using these steps.  But the Good News is it doesn't have to be that way.   

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