Temptation. It’s everywhere. We go out into the world and notice so many things that some are doing that you know will bring you further away from God. But there is a way to avoid the feeling of temptation you may feel inside.

Temptation can stem from multiple different things. Usually people can be tempted to things that tend to bring you further from God and can lead to a lot of unhappiness in the end. There are good temptations though! Like having a temptation to talk to Jesus, spend time with Jesus, read your Bible, check on a friend or family member, or even do your homework (I know this is a very unlikely temptation but if you like getting stuff done a temptation to do your homework could arise). For this message I’m going to be focusing on the bad temptations. Those could be: drugs, sex, alcohol, smoking, lying etc. The moment you feel tempted into something that you know will bring you further from God, especially if it’s an addiction, the first thing I recommend to do is turn to God. Turn your back from the evil temptation and turn your face towards Jesus. “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 that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV). Let’s say you used to have a really bad addiction to one of the bad temptations I may have mentioned earlier, in 1 Corinthians 10:13 God reassures you that the moment you feel tempted to go back into that dark place, turn towards Him and He will give you an answer. God will give you a way out. He will give you the strength to overcome that bad temptation that once had a grip on you.

Temptation is everywhere. Good and bad. It even says in the Word of God: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them” (1 John 2:15 NIV). Or for further understanding, here’s that verse in a different version: “Don’t love this evil world or the things in it. If you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you” (1 John 2:15 ERV). In the Bible it states that you should not conform to the evil things of this world (bad temptations). If you give into bad temptations, or you are currently struggling with them, haven’t you noticed that you tend to stray further from God? God wants 100% of you and if you put 100% of yourself in a worldly desire, you will not be 100% with God. I know this is quite a lot, especially if you are a person with an addiction to the bad temptations of this world, but let’s look back at 1 Corinthians 10:13: “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 that you can endure it”. If you are currently struggling with a bad temptation and you feel like there’s no way out…now there is! The answer is Jesus! It may feel like the devil has such a strong grip on you and you may feel there’s no way that God will love you because of the addictions or the mistakes, but Jesus loves you NO MATTER WHAT. Give Him a chance. Don’t let the devil win. If you turn towards Jesus even in your darkest place, He will still love you unconditionally. Repent and your sins and iniquities will be wiped away! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NIV). Let’s look at another version of this verse for further understanding: “But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done” (1 John 1:9 ERV). Wow that is amazing! So even if we are in the darkest place/mindset imaginable because of all the bad temptations we gave into, or mistakes we made in the past, God still loves us unconditionally and He is willing to wipe our slate clean if we just repent our sins and ask for forgiveness. Wow! God is so amazing. He is nothing like this world. The world may not forgive us, or forget about our mistakes, but God will forgive us and wipe our slate completely clean. Can I get an amen?? If you are currently in a dark place and you are trying so hard to overcome it, don’t do it alone, do it with God. God is currently trying to reach out to you with His hand open and ready to take yours and bring you to freedom and peace. Give God a chance. What do you got to lose? The world? Remember, the world is only temporary. God is forever.

Amen.