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Little by little, he was edging slowly, silently closer to the curb. He had one eye on me and his other eye wistfully glancing at the street. To little Christopher (Keefer, as his sister has named him), the street promised all the freedom, adventure, and fun of big boy life. His glances toward me were not as wistful.

These years of 0–2 are critical. Dangers are all around. Staircases look so inviting, electrical outlets intriguing, swimming pools alluring. The challenge for the grown-ups in their lives is not to become thought of as the spoiler of all things fun—the party pooper who says no a thousand times a day.

Is that what we are? We know we are not, but to a two-year-old, things looks different. Over and over again, we need to humble ourselves, bend low enough, get down at their eye level and try to remember: What was it was like to be so full of curiosity and energy that you’d fight sleep like a wild cat? How about sitting in a car seat with straps wrapping over, under, and around you like a straightjacket? (I’m feeling claustrophobic just thinking about it!) How unfair did it feel to have to share your toys? Or what about sitting still for what seemed an eternity, waiting your turn, or waiting for the grown-ups to finish their endless talking!

The temptation to do their own thing and have their own way in circumstances like these is immense.

Are we at all like that two-year-old? How often this “grown-up” will cast a wistful eye at temptation: some boundary that seems too restrictive, a staircase we inch toward that promises some pleasure out of reach, a secret swimming place of self indulgence that we plunge into, sinking silently to the bottom in waters cool and dark.

Temptations beckon us at every stage of life; don’t think for one moment that you are above succumbing to the subtle ways that our desires morph and change shape as we age. I once read how Gordon MacDonald (a pastor and former president of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship) shared in his book Rebuilding Your Broken World about a time when he was asked about how Satan might get him. He answered:

“All sorts of ways, I suppose; but I know there’s one way he wouldn’t get me. He’d never get me in the area of my personal relationships. That’s one place where I have no doubt that I’m as strong as you can get.” A few years after that conversation my world broke wide open. A chain of seemingly innocent choices became destructive, and it was my fault. Choice by choice by choice, each easier to make, each becoming gradually darker. And then my world broke—in the very area I had predicted I was safe—and my world had to be rebuilt.

He went on to quote from Oswald Sanders: “An unguarded strength is actually a double weakness.”

All temptations—whether in childhood, youth, or old age, different though they may be—have this in common: Temptation is hard to resist! If you think it isn’t, that is because you have never resisted it! Don’t think about the dessert that you passed up while others dived in as an example of temptation you resisted. You know you don’t like that particular dessert anyway. Try to think of your real besetting temptations. Maybe it’s the sharp-tongued defensive answer whenever you feel criticized. Maybe it’s the anger that brews every time your ex-best friend’s name is mentioned. Maybe it’s the frequent pity parties you throw for “me, myself, and I” over all that you sacrifice for your family each time you fold the laundry, scrub the pots and pans, make the beds! How often we mindlessly follow patterns of thinking that lure until we succumb to temptations like these. A little self-examination is in order to identify our particular weaknesses.

As C.S. Lewis once said, “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good . . . Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down.”

Here are three brief, simple truths about temptation.

  1. I guarantee you are being tempted in ways you may not even realize. Examine your heart daily, and repent quickly!
  2. Identifying particular areas you’re struggling with is only the first step. Own it. You are responsible; don’t minimize or excuse it. Pray! Prayer is more important than you think. Pray persistently for victory, asking God to help you.
  3. Recognize ways that you have failed or are failing to nourish your soul in the God who alone satisfies all our deepest longings! You will never change your behavior unless you change what and who you worship!