Temptation vs. Self Control

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. --Matthew 6:13

(But the fruit of the spirit is) gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. --Galatians 5:23

Last week I was in one of those phone stores in a strip shopping center.  The store-front was maybe fifteen feet wide, and the store was about fifty feet deep.  Not much in the way of retail space, at least not when compared with some of the box discount stores you hear so much about these days.  I was in line behind an older gentleman, in his late sixties.  He was asking the clerk to help him set up his new phone, because he, like me, was technologically challenged.  However, at various and randomly spaced times, he would run to the front of the store and yell at three unruly children.  The kids were maybe 7, 9, and 11 years old.  They had found a single swivel chair in the corner and were fighting each other about who should sit in it as the others spun it around.

When the gentleman came back to his place in line, after threatening to withhold television, internet, and their supper from the children, he said to me, almost apologetically, "We are raising our great grand-children.  Their parents have...gone away.  They don't have much discipline."  I smiled at him encouragingly, and encouraged him in this special calling.  But as I was leaving, I thought to myself that the gentleman was providing a great deal of discipline to these children.  What they were lacking was self control.

I thought back at all of the times I had gotten into trouble, when my parents (or my boss, or even God) had to discipline me.  They were times when I had been tempted to do things I knew in my heart were not the right thing to do, but I had a lack of self control.  I wanted the pleasure associated with the sinful act, with no regard to the consequences.  Much like the children in the story above, I wanted my turn in the spinning chair, because it looked like fun.  No matter that the chair was not meant for that purpose.

When Jesus showed His disciples how to pray, each of the phrases he used dealt with a specific need that we have.  "Our Father" deals with our need for relationship.  "Hallowed be your name" deals with our need for worship and reverence.  "Your kingdom come" deals with our need for hope.  "Your will be done" deals with our need for selflessness.  "Give us today our daily bread" deals with our physical needs.  "Forgive us our debts" obviously deals with our need for forgiveness, because we will fall short.  "As we forgive our debtors" deals with our need to treat others as God treats us.  These last two phrases, "Lead us not into temptation" and "deliver us from the evil one" deal with our need to battle sin in our lives.  We need to defeat every force that would keep us from our fulfillment in Christ.

But this doesn't mean we should adopt a lifestyle of asceticism.  Temptation was the last concept addressed in the Lord's Prayer; self control was the last attribute of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Scripture.  It was mentioned (so it is important), but it was not the primary focus.  Paul spoke to this in his letter to the Christians in Galatia. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1).  We are free from sin through the power of Christ, but we do not want to go to the other extreme, where we attempt to gain God's favor by self denial and denouncing all worldly pleasures.  Jesus ate, and enjoyed good food.  He laughed, and enjoyed good fellowship (not only with devout Jews in the synagogue, but also with tax collectors and other sinners).  Yet in all this, He did not sin.  It is by His Spirit that we should enjoy life without falling into sin.  "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." (Galatians 5:16)

There is a Facebook meme that has big block letters, declaring "God saw you do that!"  This is true both for the good things we do out of the spotlight, as well as the sins we commit under cover of darkness.  "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:13).  Are we then to live in constant fear of God's divine retribution? I don't think so.  "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2Timothy 1:7).

Jesus is God who became man and lived with us (Emanuel).  He knows what we are going through.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

I have found that when I am not focusing on my purpose in Christ, my mind wanders.  Like Lot's wife, who looked back longingly to Sodom and Gomorrah when God had told them to escape, I find myself looking back to sins I have habitually committed, and longing to go back there.  But when I focus all my energy on the task that God has set before me, there is no time for looking back; there is no room for remembrance of evil.  In the case of Lot's wife, when she clearly did not want to leave the sinful place, she was destroyed along with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.  For myself, I do not want to be destroyed when Satan and his demons are thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).  I do not want my life's work to be consumed by fire, like wood, hay, and stubble but rather to be refined by the fire, like gold, silver, and precious stones (1Corinthians 3:12)