Earlier this year, a friend of mine and I were talking about some difficult aspects of life.  My friend shared one story which stuck in my mind.  Something disturbed me about my friend’s experience.  I couldn’t put a finger on it until many days later.  This is certainly not the first time a response has eluded me until well after the fact.  I wish I could go back in time and share some thoughts.

My friend has a sister who was raped.  One day my friend happened by chance to cross paths with the rapist.  My friend was immediately filled with the desire to kill him.  Now this was something my friend could have accomplished.  However, my friend has a deep relationship with the Lord and released the passion of vengeance to God.  My friend walked away.  The rapist was oblivious that his life had just hung in the balance.

You may be thinking that there is plenty to be disturbed about in that story.  It is a story of evil violation, deep pain, and anguish.  Ever since that experience, my friend has been carrying a heavy burden of guilt.  My friend was upset about having the thought of killing someone.  The knee-jerk passionate response of vengeance surprised my friend.  After several days I realized that it was my friend’s guilt that bothered me.  My friend viewed the temptation as a sin instead of seeing that the temptation was overcome.

Throughout our lives we will experience temptation.  It is part of the human experience.  Please remember that Christ suffered temptations as well.  It is not a sin to be tempted.  Temptation can lead to sin, but it itself is not a sin.  Sin happens when we entertain sinful thoughts.  Permitting sinful thought will lead to sinful action.

For my friend, there are two things that need to be celebrated.  My friend refused to entertain murderous thoughts and brought those thoughts out into the light.  Just as ultraviolet light kills bacteria, the light of God kills Satan’s lies.  My friend didn’t harbor those thoughts and push them back in the darkness, but rejected and exposed them.  Way to go, Friend!  Those are two wins against the forces of evil.

How can we experience victory against temptation?  Let’s take a closer look at how my friend and Christ responded to their temptations.  The most powerful weapon we have is the Word of God.  Know the scriptures.  Read, listen, however you can absorb, get it in your thoughts.  Jesus used scripture to combat each of His three temptations in the wilderness.  We need to use it too.  I have no doubt that my friend remembered:

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  Romans 12:19

A second weapon is to expose the temptation to the light.  Jesus does this in Mark 8:33 when He says, “Get behind me, Satan!  You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns!”  Jesus makes others aware of Satan’s attack on Him.  Recognizing the attack and calling Satan out will weaken Satan’s ability to attack you again in a similar manner.  Likewise, my friend confided in a trusted fellow follower of Jesus as to having a murderous thought.  That thought is no longer hidden deep inside in a dark place, but thrown out into the light where it can be seen as the lie it is.  This is not a time of judgment, but of encouragement and celebration of the expansion of light. 

Throughout the Bible, Satan’s attacks are described with words that are used for hunting.  He is in it for the kill.  If he can’t take you down with temptation, he’ll try to snare you with guilt.  Remember, Jesus was tempted too.  When you are tempted, don’t entertain the idea.  Stop it in its tracks by fighting it with scripture.  Then weaken its hold by exposing it to the light.  Don’t forget to celebrate by thanking God for the wins and giving the ability to live by the Spirit and not the flesh.

Soak in these this week:
Ephesians 5:8-20
Hebrews 4:12-16
1 Corinthians 10:11-13
James 1:2-18
Luke 4:1-13