“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:12).
The world is evil – period. Everything about the world is bad, and we live in it with all the distractions and sin opportunities that come with it to take our focus off God. Don’t be fooled by the world. It will do its best to trick you and pull you down to its level and swallow you up, if not whole, then piece by piece.
Satan has been part of this world longer than we have. He has his ways refined to creep up to test and tempt us to leave God in the dust. This will not be blatant sometimes, but like a slow leak that whittles away at us until the next thing we know, we fall and are farther away from God than we should or want to be because of sin.
Satan uses the world as his playground to try to bully and pull the wool over our eyes to take them off God. He will use the world and all the temptations it offers to poke and prod us to get us to stumble. And when we do stumble, the guilt we have will be capitalized upon to have us believe we cannot ever go back to Christ, that we cannot be forgiven. It is a lie!
Jesus Christ defeated Satan and death for us when he became the sacrificial lamb for each believer on the cross. He opened the way to heaven for those who believe He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Satan knows this but will try to sway people from this truth because the world offers so much to satisfy the sinful nature of man.
Temptations abound all around. Sex, money, pride, worshiping false idols- the list goes on and on. Each man has a weakness, and the world will find that crack to exploit.
It doesn’t matter how big or small the weakness is, it will be found, and temptation will find us. How we answer that temptation is what is important.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
The Bible is our road map in life. Do not know what to do in a situation? Turn to the Bible. Sure, the Bible may not have our specific situation listed, but the foundations of sin are clear. When we submit to the Lord, we submit to His will, and His will is written for us in His Word. The guidelines are there, the knowledge is true, and the truth will lead us to do the right thing.
If we submit to the Lord, we can avoid the consequences of sin. Temptation is always in front of us. It is always lingering about. Yet, we can hold strong to our beliefs and the truths we know when faced with this sort of adversity.
Remember that the devil uses the influences of the world to tempt us. His influence in the world will set the conditions for sin, but the commission of sin is our own decision; no one forces us into sin. It doesn’t matter what the sin is — whether adultery, pride, or theft or murder — sin is sin, and it is our choice to follow sin down the rabbit hole or turn away from it.
When we commit sin, it is our failing only, not God’s, not our spouses, no, just us alone. By adhering to the edicts in the Bible, the manifest words of God, we can fight and avoid sin. Will there be failure? Sure, but by living the Word as it is designed for, we can resist and avoid situations that will tempt us as they come along.
When we successfully resist Satan when faced with temptations, confidence in ourselves and our Father leads to the ability to fight temptation and to be better able to fight those temptations. This is completely possible – don’t let the world make you think differently.
Satan is wily in his ways, but God, in His Word, addresses each type of temptation we can face and gives us broad brushing guidance to face those temptations Satan throws at us through the world.
Resistance to the world is possible, and success can be celebrated. The more sin is resisted, the more apt we will be to avoid future temptations.
It seems as if we each have a special temptation or sin we must face that lingers day in and day out. It is our weakness and our cross to bear. I know; I have one too. It hangs over my head, ready to swoop down at any time. It is a daily fight. It is a never-ending battle. I’m at war with myself with that one weakness that seems to raise its ugly head when I am weak.
By resisting, I’m fighting that weakness I have. My problem is I do not always fight with God by my side but by my own self will. When this happens, I succumb to my burden. Only when this happens do I realize my lack of calling out to the Lord to help me resist.
Look, I’m not going to beat this up. We all need to submit to the Lord to resist temptation and sin. Is this hard? Yes. Will it ever be easy? No. The world will do its best to wear us down, but each time we resist and are successful, the easier it becomes.
Satan’s influence will always be in front of us while we are on this earth, and we can either say yes or no to what temptation is laid before our feet. We cannot always avoid it, but we can resist. By submitting to the Lord’s will for us, we will come out on the side of victory!
God bless.