What's Your Weakness?
Sometimes I am afraid we dumb this passage down when we limit it to being about sex; after all, we use the word "lust" in a mostly sexual way anymore. But this time I had to teach this verse to kids between 5 and 15. This has to be about more (or less).
So I broke it down a little something like this:
It begins with right and wrong. How do we know something is right or wrong? Someone or something tells us, teaches us the difference. Parents (on some level) raise us, hopefully teaching us correctly. God gives us the Law, the Holy Spirit speaks. We are more likely to disobey because of our broken, sinful nature. We are tempted by things that tempt us.
As a simplified example, if I need to lose weight, I should not eat lots of fatty food. I want a rare double cheeseburger and fries and a chocolate shake. I am tempted to EAT that because I LIKE that (If I didn't I wouldn't.) Again, I am tempted by things that tempt me.
Knowing I should not eat that way, if I do I have been disobedient at least to myself, definitely a trainer, doctor, or some such, and ultimately God. If we believe Romans 13:1, at any level we have disobeyed God. Disobeying God is called SIN.
So now we have the life cycle of temptation: temptation itself, sinning (disobeying), death (spiritual first, physical second). The greatest danger is that sometimes it is a tiny, tiny thing that snags us. We must always be on the lookout against the things we are drawn to. Do they bring God glory or bring me pleasure (not that all pleasure is evil- but that's another post.) I have to learn to know what trips me up (the devil knows) and be ready with the Word and the Holy Spirit to make it through with my life intact, both spiritual and physical.
Created about 1 year ago
