1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
The lie of the enemy is to tell us that our temptations to sin are too great for us to bear; that they are too strong for us to overcome. But God in this passage is telling us that it is no more than an insecure lie. If we indeed are followers of the Christ, then we are fully equipped to deny and shun any temptation set before us.
Now, what this verse is not saying is that we won't go through very serious and fiery temptation - you can bank on the fact that you will - it is saying that no matter how strong that temptation is, your power as a Christian to overcome it is even stronger. Think about it this way: Jesus went through the most severe temptation ever known to mankind when He went out into the desert for forty days (Matthew 4), and He didn't even sin a little! This wasn't because of a lack of temptation, it was from an extreme love for His Father. Now, if Jesus turned away from the strongest temptation ever to be seen, and we have Him living inside of us, that means that we have equal authority to deny sinful desires and overcome every temptation that comes our way; Jesus has given us the key to escape every every sinful desire, and we are free to use it at any time.
So if we have the power of Jesus in us to overcome temptation, why to we still sin? Ultimately, we give in to temptation because we want to; we're given a way of escape, but we choose not to take it. So, when fighting temptation, it isn't a matter of "Can I beat it?", it's a matter of "Do I really want to beat it enough?". We have been given an opportunity to overcome every single sin standing in the way of our relationship with God, let's take His ways of escape that He has provided for us.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
The lie of the enemy is to tell us that our temptations to sin are too great for us to bear; that they are too strong for us to overcome. But God in this passage is telling us that it is no more than an insecure lie. If we indeed are followers of the Christ, then we are fully equipped to deny and shun any temptation set before us.
Now, what this verse is not saying is that we won't go through very serious and fiery temptation - you can bank on the fact that you will - it is saying that no matter how strong that temptation is, your power as a Christian to overcome it is even stronger. Think about it this way: Jesus went through the most severe temptation ever known to mankind when He went out into the desert for forty days (Matthew 4), and He didn't even sin a little! This wasn't because of a lack of temptation, it was from an extreme love for His Father. Now, if Jesus turned away from the strongest temptation ever to be seen, and we have Him living inside of us, that means that we have equal authority to deny sinful desires and overcome every temptation that comes our way; Jesus has given us the key to escape every every sinful desire, and we are free to use it at any time.
So if we have the power of Jesus in us to overcome temptation, why to we still sin? Ultimately, we give in to temptation because we want to; we're given a way of escape, but we choose not to take it. So, when fighting temptation, it isn't a matter of "Can I beat it?", it's a matter of "Do I really want to beat it enough?". We have been given an opportunity to overcome every single sin standing in the way of our relationship with God, let's take His ways of escape that He has provided for us.