Tame Your Temptation
Habits of Happiness Part 2
1 Corinthians 10:13-14
We all want to be happy.
I bet there is no single person who intentionally chooses to be unhappy.
However, so many people in this world are not happy for one reason or another.
In order to be happy, this is what we have to realize.
Happiness is our choice.
Happiness is something that we choose.
In order to be happy, we must do things that will bring happiness.
However, there are many who are not happy.
It is partly because of the way they think, the way they talk, and the way they act does not make them happy.
When people think negatively, talk critically, and act unbiblically, these are not something that they acquired overnight.
They are habits that they have built.
Therefore, in order to be happy, we must change the way we think, talk, and act.
We must build habits of thinking, talking, and acting biblically.
And we can form these habits by repeatedly doing them.
Therefore, during this series, we are talking about habits that we must build to experience happiness in our lives.
And today we will talk about the importance of taming our temptation.
When we give into temptation, we will suffer.
We will suffer from guilt, embarrassment, and shame.
This is why in order to be happy, we must to tame our temptation.
We shouldn’t be surprised when temptation knocks at our doors.
We are Satan’s most strategic targets.
He tempts Christians who seek to live godly lives.
The early Christians in the Bible also struggled with temptations just as we do.
We find one of the examples in the church in Corinth.
Corinth was one of the most wicked cities in the first-century world.
And the church in Corinth was composed of people, who were products of that culture.
They had difficulty giving up the habits of their culture.
It is easy for me to imagine that one day Paul received a letter from some young man in Corinth.
The letter must have said something like this.
“Sir, I gave my heart to Jesus. I made the commitment to follow Jesus. Then why is it that I still want to do all the old things? My mind and my appetites are the same as they ever were. Honestly, I am disappointed. I thought Jesus would make me strong.”
Perhaps there was a young man like that, and perhaps Paul had him in mind when he wrote this section of his letter dealing with new life and old appetites.
I believe that Paul’s words for him can be applied to you and me, who are trying to tame our temptations.
Paul gave us this advice to help tame our temptation.
I. We must remember that we are not alone (v. 13a).
Verse 13a says this.
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.
These are words of reassurance.
Whatever we are going through, we must remember that we are not the only ones to have passed that way.
We are in good company.
This is something that we tend to forget in the midst of temptation.
We feel isolated.
We feel that we are the only ones who are struggling with this temptation.
The devil has a way of slipping the blinders onto our heads, so that we can see no one else.
However, Paul is saying, in essence, that temptation is the oldest trick in the book.
It is a “humanity thing.”
It comes with the territory.
Every one faces the same temptation.
There is an encyclopedia of every conceivable temptation.
It is called the Bible.
Throughout its pages are the stories of men and women struggling with temptation—some, like Samson, who were consumed; others, like Daniel, who stood firm.
And what about Jesus?
He too was tempted.
Hebrews 4:15 says this.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
This means the holiest Man who ever lived felt every urge we feel.
However, He never gave in—He never sinned.
This tells a very important truth.
Temptation is not a sin.
This is a very crucial point that many of us miss.
I counsel people, who feel defeated simply because temptation knocked upon their door.
And that is the devil’s doing.
He is saying, “You are already defeated,” when the truth is that temptation itself is neutral.
The sin only comes in the yielding.
Temptation is like a fork in the road.
We are presented with a choice, and we choose the high one or the low one.
Wouldn’t life be easier if there were no forks, no decisions to make—if the road was simply a straight and narrow path?
However, the Bible gives us no magic formulas for that kind of life.
It assures us that we will come to those forks regularly, and we must choose where to go.
Furthermore, the wiser and more mature in Jesus we become, the more treacherous and subtle are the choices.
They do not become easier but more difficult.
For the devil is no fool.
The advanced level earns us advanced opposition.
But we must remember.
We may walk an uphill road, but we walk it with plenty of other Christians.
When we are tempted, we must remember that we are not alone.
This is why it is so important to attend a small group.
When we attend small groups and share our lives together, we will learn this: We all go through similar issues, problems, and temptations.
And we can encourage each other, pray for each other, and hold each other accountable.
We are all in a same boat.
We must remember that we are not alone.
II. We must believe in God’s faithfulness (v. 13b).
Verse 13b says this.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
It is clear that God allows temptation in our lives for many reasons.
However, as He does so, we have His promise that He places a limitation on the intensity of the temptation.
He knows our capacity in every area.
He knows what we can bear.
He knows exactly where the limits of our endurance lie.
Some people say, “I was overcome by temptation; it was more than I could withstand.”
However, this is not true.
That person had better come up with some other excuse because the clear biblical truth is that God allows only temptations we can handle.
The issue is not based on our impression of our limits, but on His precise understanding of them.
He is the One who sets the limits on them, after all.
If we are planning to give in, we have to concede that we do so by free will.
It is never out of our control.
God will never allow temptations that we cannot bear.
It is God’s promise.
And we must believe in His faithfulness.
The temptation may be intense, but God’s love is immense.
We must never worry about the limits of our strength—it is all about God’s strength.
We will never be tested beyond our endurance because we can rely on His endurance.
When we are facing temptation, we must stand firm.
We must remember that Jesus has been there, that His Spirit is with us now, and that God is strong enough to pull us through it.
With these truths in our grasp, we will experience victory over temptation every single time.
We must also remember that we actually need these tests.
Did you know that?
We need them because they help us demonstrate our love for God.
In school, we need to take a test occasionally to prove what we have learned.
Otherwise, there would be no measure.
Otherwise, we would not even have to study and grow wiser on the subject.
Life is the same way.
Without the occasional test, how could we measure our growth in Christ?
Why would we even need to depend on Him?
If every one of us could run the perfect race, then what is its meaning?
Nothing.
However, we have every possibility of stumbling, and every possibility of choosing the wrong path, yet we stand tall and walk wisely.
Then God would be glorified.
The angels stop, put down their harps perhaps, and applaud.
No wonder why God allows us to walk through these valleys.
When we are tempted, we must believe in God’s faithfulness.
III. We must take God’s escape route (vv. 13c-14).
Verses 13c-14 say this.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
When it comes to temptation, God begins with the end in mind.
He already knows exactly how we can escape.
We tend to think of Him as watching us anxiously, perhaps ready to throw down a rope ladder if things become tense.
But in truth, God has it all mapped out—and He got it done long before we were born.
He knows our circumstances.
He knows our character.
He knows the plan that will provide victory and new maturity.
As our crisis unfolds, God has already provided the way of escape we need.
We must engrave this into our minds, so that we will remember it when we are tempted.
The escape hatch is nearby, and the door is open.
Because Jesus walked the road of temptation before, He knows the right and wrong turns.
He will say with His arm around our shoulders, “I know what you are facing. Follow me. I will show you a way out of here.”
Over time, I have discovered that temptation is not so much a matter of what we do, but of whom we love.
Knowing Jesus—really knowing Him, not simply knowing about Him—changes everything.
More often than not, the power to overcome temptation comes when we fill our minds with His glory.
Then there is no room for the world’s shabby offerings.
Worship and fellowship with God in the morning actually makes it difficult to walk right out into the world and commit some sins.
Knowing that we have just been in the presence of God of universe, and that He is with us, makes it very difficult to sink to our lowest levels.
The best escape Jesus provides is His own presence.
Therefore, I challenge you to think about the times when you have been tempted.
Perhaps it was a serious moral issue or only a second helping of desert you did not need.
Whatever the gravity of the sin, God presented us with an escape
route.
The way of escape was, in that moment, made clear to you.
Can you remember?
And a thought rushed through our head: “This is wrong. I can avoid this.”
Right there, we have our best opportunity to walk away.
However, if we ignore that thought aside, then victory becomes more and more difficult.
When we see the “Exit Sign” glowing in the dark, push it open and run.
Let’s imagine that there is a fire in a movie theater.
It is dark and we do not know where to escape.
What do we have to do?
We must look for an exit sign.
And we must run toward it and escape through the door.
Just like this, whenever we are tempted, we must look for God’s exit sign.
And we must escape through it.
Missionary Jim Elliot said this.
“Don’t put yourself in a position to see how good your resistance is. When you feel temptation coming, get out of there!”
We must flee.
We must take God’s escape route.
This is what Joseph in the Old Testament did when he was tempted.
His master’s wife wanted him to sleep with her.
Then he fled.
We must take God’s escape route as well.
Conclusion
While we are in this world, we will face temptations.
However, we do not have to give into them.
We can overcome those temptations.
Then and only then will we live happy lives.
When we give in to temptation and sin, we cannot never be happy.
When we disobey God and go against His will, we will regret it 100% of the time.
This is why if we want to be happy, we must tame our temptation.
In order to do that…
We must remember that we are not alone.
We must believe in God’s faithfulness.
We must take God’s escape route.
When we do that, we will avoid the pains of giving into temptations.
We will be able to build a habit of happiness.
