How are you tempted? What are your weaknesses? There is a lot in the Christian media at the moment about weight watching and staying healthy which can be helpful but also a little misleading. I'm not sure that God cares about us needing a jean size (or 2) bigger than we want to be in as much as we do. In fact, whilst I am convinced that it is a good thing to stay healthy and believe that God wants us to look after our bodies, I also believe that the Gospel should liberate us from the trappings of wanting to have a figure that our culture has made us believe is beautiful.
I think we need to be aware of what are the real areas of temptation in our life and not worry so much about the extra biscuit or cake we munch on at the toddler group. What are our real weaknesses? What are the temptations that regularly cause us to sin? 1 Peter 3:3-4 says "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery, or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."
Well, I was thinking about this during a quiet time recently and was spending time bringing to God the areas in which I am regularly tempted. It's hard to resist temptation isn't it? Right from the dawn of time humans have found they have messed up time and time again.
I was spending time reading the beginning chapters of Genesis and God showed me 3 different ways in which we are tempted -
1. The wrong thing often looks sooo attractive! Eve saw that the tree of the knowledge bore "fruit that looked so fresh and delicious, and would make her so wise!" (Gen 3:6). What is tempting is often something we would so like to indulge in - just a couple more drinks when we're out with friends, gossiping about someone who has hurt us, messing about with our phones rather than spending time with the kids...
2. It often makes us feel like we are better than we are. Eve thought the fruit would make her so wise. Why was that attractive to her? Because it would make her look good and give her power. There is nothing wrong with wisdom but we need to guard how we use it. Often we are tempted to make ourselves look good, giving ourselves the glory instead of God.
3. When we are stressed or feeling low we give in to temptation because we use the way we are feeling as an excuse. When God rejected Cains offering He told Cain that he would be accepted if he responded in the right way, but if he refused to respond correctly then Satan would be waiting to attack and destroy (Gen 4:7). Often we choose to sin when we are feeling disappointed or frustrated and think that the way we are feeling justifies the sin. We snap at the kids or our husband when we're stressed and tell ourselves that anyone would snap if they'd had to deal with what we had to deal with. God that we should choose to respond to our emotions in the right way, through prayer, reading the Bible and seeking comfort from others.
So, so let's recognise the areas of temptation in our lives that God cares about and spend less time calorie-counting and watching the waist line.
