“I was tempted to think …”
We’ve all heard, and possibly said, these exact words: “I was tempted to think you’d be late!” “I was tempted to think you didn’t care!” “I was tempted to think she was right about you!”
In my experience these words are generally stated after it has been proven to what we were “tempted to think” was wrong. And they are usually said to try to cover the fact that we thought it in the first place. And yes, when we say them, it usually means that we weren’t just “tempted” to think them, but that we actually THOUGHT them!
Despite the fact that this is generally the way we use this expression, being tempted to do something and actually doing it are not one and the same. The Bible is clear on this: “But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).” (James 1:14 AMP). What this is saying is that the “temptation” doesn’t actually happen when we think something, but rather when we are enticed by that thought.
Let’s say, for example, someone treats you unfairly. Thoughts immediately crowd themselves into your mind: “It’s not fair! They would NEVER allow YOU to treat THEM that way!”
We generally latch on to these thoughts and run with them. “It certainly isn’t fair! I can’t believe he/she would do something like that! He/she isn’t a nice person at all!”
It is at this point that the Bible tells us we’ve been tempted, and from there, things just go downhill … “Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death.” (James 1:15 AMP).
It’s a landslide, friends. An avalanche. The thought leads to the temptation, the temptation baits the evil desire, the evil desire births sin, and sin leads to death!
Is it any wonder that the Apostle Paul then cries out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24 NKJV)
So what can we do? How can we stop the landslide?
Only at the source, friends. Only at the moment the thought enters our minds.
You see, the moment we are tempted to think something that is a sin, that is the moment we have a choice to make:
1. We can either allow our thoughts to continue going down that path, starting the avalanche of sin that eventually leads to death;
2. Or we can plead the blood of Jesus over that thought and deny it access to our minds.
The second answer is the best, but it is also the hardest, for in order to do so, we have to do the following:
1. Recognize the thought as a temptation.
2. DESIRE to NOT go down that familiar path of temptation.
3. Plead the blood of Jesus over that temptation.
None of these steps are easy. First, these thoughts are generally so common that we don’t see them as potential temptation. And more often than not, that tempting thought is quite deserved! The person DID do us wrong! And thus, it is difficult to have the desire in our hearts to break free.
So what is the solution?
The Apostle Paul has the answer for us: “I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:25 NKJV)
Friends, Jesus can set us free from this destructive path! All we have to do is ask.
There is someone in my life who constantly makes me mad. I have, for most of my life, allowed myself to go down the path of thought to temptation, and temptation to sin, and the results have been less than ideal to my relationship with this person.
But it is true that this person is NOT nice to me! This person does NOT treat me the way I should be treated!
But is the landslide that leads to death really worthwhile?
I recently realized it wasn’t. I asked God to help me stop the thought before it ever became a temptation. I asked Him to help me recognize the tempting thought for the poisonous arrow it was, and then to give me the desire in my heart to let go of my “well-deserved” anger.
I won’t say it’s been an easy road. Those tempting thoughts are so engrained in me! But praise be to God, with His help, most of the avalanches of sin and anger and unforgiveness have been stopped at the source: At the first tempting thought! And my relationship with this person is improving as a result.
“I was tempted to think …”
This phrase can spearhead a landslide that leads to death. But if we give it to Jesus, it can become a launching pad for forgiveness and the rebuilding of relationships. The next time we are “tempted to think”, let’s commit to asking God for the desire to let go and forgive; to pleading the merits of His blood over the thought; and to not allow it any further access to our minds.
Do not give in to the temptation to be “tempted to think”!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Mother of two teens, Speech-Language Pathologist, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries.