The Way Out of Temptation

Corinthians 10 is an often quoted scripture relating to temptation. Its hope-filled message assures us that God provides a way out so we can endure temptation.

Most often this passage is assumed to be the answer we need in the moment of being tempted. Certainly, crying out to God and asking for His intervention when we are face-to-face with temptation can be extremely helpful, but what if there is a different, more pre-emptive way out of temptation?

As we’ve mentioned before in this blog, feelings of entitlement make us much more vulnerable to temptation and much less likely to redirect our thinking toward asking God to help.

So, it makes sense that if we could reduce our entitlement we would be less likely to be tripped up by any temptation that does come along. But how can we do that?

Most of that entitlement stems from the unresolved issues in our lives that leave us feeling anger, sadness, fear, guilt and other intense emotions. Our brain tells us we “deserve” whatever will help us numb or ignore those feelings. The temptations that haunt us suddenly look like answers instead of dangers.

God gave us three very important tools to resolve those underlying issues and subsequently avoid this whole destructive scenario:

1. Repentance – when we have done something wrong
2. Forgiveness – when someone has hurt us
3. Grieving – when we have lost something that is important to us (Click on any of these three words to learn more)

When we learn to deal with the issues in our lives instead of trying to ignore them, our sense of entitlement goes away and temptation loses its power over us. We have found the way out.

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can endure it.”  — 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)