Temptation is a strange thing to think about.  Have you ever tried going on a diet and realized that the chocolate chip cookies now sound even more delicious than they did before your diet.  Sometimes when we try to NOT do something, it becomes harder to not do.  Why is that?

It’s interesting that Adam and Eve struggled with this very thing.  God gave them permission to eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden, with one exception; they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  One tree was forbidden out of all the other trees, and which one did they eat from? You guessed it; they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

Humans have a tendency to do what they wish they didn’t.  Maybe you wanted to study for two hours after school, but instead watched two hours of TV.  Maybe you wanted to exercise and eat a bag of carrots, but instead you reached for the donuts and played video games.  Maybe Adam and Eve wanted to obey God’s command, but instead they fell for the serpents trick because the fruit from the forbidden tree looked enticing. 

Our spiritual lives can often look this way.  We want to obey God and do away with some bad habits, but this can be difficult at times.  Temptations can come from all directions, including lust, lying, comparing ourselves to others, feeling inadequate, using bad language, engaging in bad relationships, etc.…Temptations can be even harder when your friends and culture try to entice you into it.  People might tell you it’s no big deal or that it’s okay to do every once in a while.  Don’t fall into that trap because it’s the same trap Adam and Eve fell into long, long ago.

To fight temptation, remind yourself of the promises of God.  He is here for you.  He cares about you.  God is more powerful than any temptation we face, but we have to be humble and ask for His guidance and help in times of difficulty.  If we rely on God’s strength, and not ours, we can get through even the toughest forms of temptation!