“Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the boy sitting on a fence who was eyeing a delicious apple still hanging on the tree in a neighbor’s yard. When the neighbor saw him, he came up to him and asked, “Son, are you trying to steal that apple?” To which the boy replied, “No sir. I’m trying not to steal it.”
So goes the reality for every single one of us as Christ-followers – our battle with temptation. In thinking about this, it’s clear that being tempted isn’t a sign of spiritual failure, for even Jesus Himself was tempted. Unfortunately, we don’t handle our temptations as well as He did. Yet we have the mind of Christ which suggests that we have the potential to overcome temptation regardless of its nature. So how do we do that? How do we deal with temptation when it rears its ugly head against us?
In answer to these questions, most believers simply rely on willpower. Essentially, they tell themselves, “I will not give in. I will not give in. I will not give in.” They hope that they can overcome their temptations by outlasting them. After all, they really do want to please God. Yet Jesus was clear with the disciples, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
So even though we really do want to overcome temptation at least in our spirit, our human capacity to follow through is indeed weak. Therefore, we may be able to hold off our temptations for some time, but eventually we will find our resolve weakening as they start to overrun us which causes us to give in yet again. And with the yielding comes the crushing weight of guilt and shame for yet another spiritual failure.
This defeating cycle inflicts many believers who may even begin to question the reality of their salvation due to their inability to overcome temptation. So what’s the solution? Try harder? Hardly. Remember, the flesh is weak. So no amount of willpower will ever be sufficient to overcome temptation no matter how hard we try.
Thankfully, there is hope. Jesus told His disciples to “keep watching and praying” so that they would not fall into temptation. Note that this is a habitual activity. We don’t just watch and pray once and settle the matter. Instead we must give ourselves to the ongoing practice of turning to God to prepare our minds and hearts for battles with temptation.
It is through this kind of spiritual diligence that our desires gradually begin to change which causes our temptations to lose their power. In other words, we are no longer trying to talk ourselves out of stealing the apple. Our goal is to get to the place where we don’t even want the apple. And that’s something only God can do as we cooperate with Him in the process of watching and praying.
So if you’re stuck in a defeating pattern of yielding to temptation, take heart. You are not a spiritual loser. You have just been fighting the wrong way. Quit focusing on the source of your temptation and begin turning your mind toward God especially about the matter in question. The more you make this a regular practice, the more you will see the power of temptation losing its strength. You don’t have to be a victim anymore.
Thanks Brian. I appreciate your articles. Your comment about Jesus telling His disciples to “keep watching and praying” and noting that is was “habitual activity” especially caught my eye. “Habitual activity”–something one has done long enough and often enough that now one does it automatically without consciously having to think about doing it. It becomes part of one’s nature. There are quite a few things in the Christian’s life that should be “habitual activities”.
You are right that there are many things that need to become habitual habits if we are to live the life with Christ in an effective manner. That’s especially true during times of testing like we see in this story, for it is during these times that we are most prone to losing our way. Thanks for commenting.