My first memory is when I was about 5 years old. I don’t remember when I stole the kids deck of playing cards at a friend’s house. But I do remember getting caught. I was paddled and made to return the stolen item and say ‘I’m sorry.’  I’ve been saying ‘I’m sorry’ ever since.

It is now about 50 years later. You would think I would have grown out of the stage of temptation. I am a Christian and have dedicated my life to serve the Lord and you would think, by now, I would be at a place of spiritual maturity where I would not be tempted anymore.  But I am.

I am now tempted by a lot bigger items than a deck of playing cards. Sometimes a temptation will last several weeks, rather than an afternoon. Sometimes I have been able to say ‘no’ to the temptation. Yet, sometimes I have given in to a temptation and suffered the inevitable consequences.

However, one thing has helped me. I know that Jesus, my Savior, was also tempted. Immediately after His baptism, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Jesus wasn’t tempted because He was doing wrong. Actually, He was tempted because He was doing right.

Temptation is not wrong. Yet, the decisions we make in our temptation may be wrong. I found four lessons we can learn in Jesus’ temptation to help us in our temptations. You can read the story in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.

1. God will test your actions and motives.

The temptation of Jesus was no accident. God the Father wanted His Son to be tempted. In Matthew & Luke’s account of the temptation, we discover that Jesus was tempted to do what God did not want Him to do: turn stones to bread, fall from the top of the Temple, bow down to Satan. But beyond that His motives were tested: Would He use His supernatural power for Himself? Would He tempt God to save Him in a spectacular way? Would He use a shortcut to get what He wanted?

God puts each of us through a test, a wilderness experience, or a temptation to allow us to make a right choice and to determine our motives. Do we serve God only when everything is going good or will we still serve God when life turns bad?  Do serve God because of what we get out of it or do we serve God for Him?  Nothing puts our Christianity to the test like a trial or temptation.

2. Temptation has limits in endurance and intensity.

The temptation of Jesus lasted 40 days, but it had its end. The difficulties we face have an end.

Also, 1 Corinthians 13:10 reminds us that temptation will only be as strong as our strength to endure it.  God believes we can handle the temptation and allows it so we can be stronger for the next battle. God will never put on us more than we can bear.

3. Temptation will attack from seen and unseen forces.

Satan himself tempted Jesus. The verb ‘tempted’ describes continuous action because Jesus was tempted constantly during the forty days from Satan himself. Satan is a real, fallen angel (archangel) who leads a team of innumerable fallen angels (demons) to fight against God’s plan. Though we cannot see them, they are as real as any physical object. So, some temptations come from unseen forces.

Mark is the only gospel to tell us of the ‘wild beasts’. This stresses the hostility of the wilderness – wolf, jackal, leopard. There may be another reason why Mark mentions ‘wild beasts.’ Remember he is writing for Roman Christians whose faith is marching them straight into lions’ mouths.  Some temptations come from seen forces. 

4. God will strengthen supernaturally and practically.

Not only was Jesus accompanied by Satan and wild beasts during His temptation, the ‘angels attended him.’ The verb indicates continuous action. As Satan’s temptations lasted continuously during the forty days, so did the ministrations of the angels. Although the ministry of angels to Jesus was unique, angels stand ready to minister to all those who shall be the heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14). We have supernatural help in times of temptation. Trust God.

In Matthew & Luke’s account of the temptation, we discover a practical help in temptation – the Word of God. In each specific temptation, Jesus’ reaction was ‘It is written.’ He then quoted a Scripture He had memorized to fight the temptation. The Bible describes itself as a ‘sword’ in several passages. The Bible (with prayer) is the greatest weapon against temptation. It is also an offensive weapon in spreading the Gospel.

I found an interesting quote by Henry Nouwen in Leadership Journal. “I cannot continuously say no to this or no to that, unless there is something ten times more attractive to choose. Saying no to my lust, my greed, my needs, and the world’s powers takes an enormous amount of energy. The only hope is to find something so obviously real and attractive that I can devote all my energies to saying yes… One such thing I can say yes to is when I come in touch with the fact that I am loved. Once I have found that in my total brokenness I am still loved, I become free from the compulsion of doing successful things.”

Love is the greatest power against temptation.  How much do you love Jesus? To that degree is your power to resist temptation.