Friday, February 9, 2018

TEMPTATION

Why does temptation play such a vital role in all of our lives?

First, let us take a look at the Webster definition of the word:  a strong urge or desire to have or do something. : something that causes a strong urge or desire to have or do something and especially something that is bad, wrong, or unwise.

Daily Wisdom Word Meaning:  an inevitable pull towards something your heart desires greatly.

We all have had to deal with temptation, and most of us give into temptation when we want something so bad we can taste it, sometimes literally!  We can't seem to help ourselves, so we give into temptation.

I suffer with temptation every single day.  I crave a glass of chocolate milk, and am fighting 
so hard to avoid this small temptation but, I keep "thinking" about it which is the very key we need to be aware of.  

The more we think about our temptations, the more we are likely to give into whatever the temptation is.  The Webster says in its definition, "something that is bad, wrong or unwise."  
temptation, can lead to obsession, mistakes, regret and habit patterns.  I have used the glass of chocolate milk as an example, but in the past I have had temptation so strong that led to all of of those things:  obsession regret, habit pattern and always a mistake.

Years ago, I met my worst temptation so far in my life, and it started at the ending of my relationship with someone who I still loved and was in love with He broke our relationship off after three years.

I would lay in bed, thinking about him, crying, and it was almost as if my body had another mind other than my own.  I would find myself getting ready to go see him in the early morning when I knew he had free time and would be home.  He never turned me away, which caused the temptation to turn into a habit pattern.  After seeing him, I would always drive home feeling terrible that I had given into my temptations, and tell myself I would never do it again.  (until the next day) but eventually I broke the habit pattern by my suggestions for this daily wisdom word.

We must be very careful when we give into temptations like the examples I gave, and be prepared for the consequences of our actions and there are ta few things we can do to avoid our temptations;  the little and big ones.

First, we pray for God to remove the temptation from our minds. 

Second, we find if we write down on a piece of paper why the temptation is so very appealing to us, and what the consequences are should we give into the temptation.   I have found eventually, if we keep writing all of the reasons down why we should not give into our temptation, LOGIC begins to take over and our mind finally is reconnects to our brain!

Third, by "playing out" the temptation step by step in our mind, we can't help but feel the regret we would feel if we gave into the temptation.


I believe temptations can be harmless or the work of the devil, but we can gain control of them and build that self-control over a period of time by avoiding harmful temptations repetitively.  

We all are wonderful creations from God's work and therefor are imperfect.  From time to time we will give into temptations, and it is nice if we can pick which ones those are!
SL




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