Temptation (Letters to the Corinthians Series)

Why is it that we don't discuss our deepest darkest temptations in the church? Most times we avoid the fact that we have deep nasty junk inside ourselves that Satan loves to pluck out to lead us into sin. The capacity to sin is within us and each of us has a "special room" for those sinful desires. Satan know that room, God knows that room and WE know that room.

A lot of times those rooms are built due to pain. I talked to the Sr. High teens last night about Temptation, and told them about a girl I knew in High School who had an abusive father. He wounded her and put a deep desire to be loved and accepted by men. This gave Satan a wound to work his temptation through. This girl became sexually active, so much so that she was having sex with boys in the school. Under the bleachers, in back stairwells etc.

The sad thing is...she had no one who would talk to her. She was constantly tempted to have sex, but didn't see her way out. 1 Corinthians 10:11-13 says that when we are tempted, God will always have a way out for us and he does...this girl just couldn't find it. She was also a member of our youth group...which makes it WORSE that there was no one to help her with her temptation, which was slowly becoming and addiction.

There are other what would seemingly be "minor temptations" that teens deal with every day. As Youth Pastors, parents, friends and fellow believers, its our job to help show them the ways out that God provides. One practical way that I offered was a phone call to me (for the guys) or my wife (for the girls). I told them that no matter what they are being tempted to do...give me a call even if its a temptation to steal a pack of gum.

I also pointed them to a great verse that helped me over and over again as a teen and now as an adult. James 4:7-8a " Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you."

I encouraged them to allow God to help them to "stand up under temptation" (1 Corinthians 10:12)