1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
PERSONAL COMMENTARY
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Yes, we all face temptation.
No, you aren’t the only one whose flesh nature radar perks up when a girl in yoga pants walks ahead of you in a store.
No, you aren’t the only one who thinks, it won’t hurt anybody if I use this software that I didn’t pay for, or download a copy of this song instead of buying it.
No, you aren’t the only one that hears the offer of the lonely, single woman at the bar while traveling out of work and realizes that no one will ever know.
No, you aren’t the only one that stumbles across that link to pornography and thinks, just this once.
No, you aren’t the only one to be offered an illegal substance or pill that isn’t prescribed to you and think to yourself, I deserve a break from reality with how hard I work.
No, you aren’t the only one to realize that you promised someone that you would help them this afternoon, but the couch just feels so good and your favorite game/show is on TV right now.
I could go on for days, but you get the point.
What’s interesting is that no one starts out down a dark path thinking – hey, I want to hurt other people and destroy my life. It always starts out with a single compromise of our integrity – and over time becomes complacency – and eventually ends us up with us in over our heads, deep in darkness.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
We have a way out.
And that way out is one step at a time.
If we look too far ahead, we might become discouraged by the distance of our journey ahead – but if we start walking, keeping focused on the path ahead, not being fostered away from the path, taking each step with purpose, we will look up from the task at hand and be surprised at how far we have come.
When we handle each task at hand individually, we will find that we have enough power and strength to do the right thing – and if we don’t have confidence in ourselves, we can have confidence in the promises of Christ who tells us –
That through Him all things are possible
That no weapon formed against us shall prosper
That He will never leave us or forsake us
That He who lives in us is greater than he who lives in this world.
Yes, we can resist evil and we can endure – one step at a time.
Harold J. Ballinger 