The counselors and teacher began to share verse like, “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”(James 1:15) I had succumbed to temptation so regularly, so habitually, that I didn’t see any hope for victory or wasn’t even looking for a way of escape. Satan blinded me and I gave up without a fight.
During my stay at the colony, I read Matthew 4:1-11 and realize temptation wasn’t a sin. Jesus was lead to the wilderness and 3 times Satan tried to make Him sin. The Lord was tempted in ways that Christians are today. He won the victory over temptation. Christians can also have victory over sin, the devil, and temptation.
“Thy Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalms 119:11).
Realty; temptation is not the act or same as sin, but the attack by the enemy to lure the already internal struggles we have. God is not leading or tempting us with evil but offers an escape route. Without exception, sin results when temptation strikes a sensitive chord in the human heart, and man has no one to blame but himself. We will be tested, but the test is God’s design to purify and strengthen them, but He does not lead them into sin.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”(Romans 10:17) I love how God provides the answer in his Word roe any temptation.
Written by Juan Mendez: Juan is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full time staff member at America’s Keswick.