Many individuals in the Bible have shown generations of readers how to be faithful to God. No matter what happened in these biblical characters’ lives or how much they seemed to be in danger, they did not falter in their loyalty and obedience to the one God. They refused to be tempted into wrong behavior or to abandon their convictions despite adverse circumstances or the threat of violence.
For example, Daniel was thrown into a den of lions as punishment for refusing to worship the king rather than God; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were sentenced to death by fire because they held on to their faith in God despite being ordered to bow down to a golden image; and Joseph never wavered in his trust in God no matter how many hardships he had to overcome. Jesus was tempted by the devil but categorically turned down each lure. And Paul and some of Jesus’ disciples spent time in prison for their support of the new Christian faith.
Understanding temptation in a broader sense has been tremendously helpful to me when my first instinct wasn’t to be gracious.
Where others may have been tempted to figure out compromising, retaliatory, or extreme ways to deal with situations that threatened their freedom and even their lives, these individuals’ trust in God remained firm. And they prevailed in those circumstances.
Even before Jesus taught his disciples what’s now called the Lord’s Prayer, men and women in the Old Testament of the Bible practiced a concept that is represented by this line of the prayer: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). Despite the threat of drastic consequences, they refused to deviate from the inspired demand to obey God.
The great examples set by these individuals gave me the impression as a child that the temptation mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer referred to something dramatically sinful—such as disobeying God or committing a crime. And the spiritual interpretation of this line, “And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death,” given by the Discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, cemented this view (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 17).
Since my life wasn’t anything nearly as dramatic as those of the ancients in the Bible, I felt I was reasonably free from temptation. When would temptation ever come my way? Well into adulthood I was sure that the answer was never. Then came the day when all that changed.
I had been feeling out of sorts for several days, burdened by circumstances that seemed beyond my control. Then, an acquaintance did something that seemed quite insensitive, and I was furious and offended. Though she knew what was going on in my life, she made demands that made me feel even more burdened. Only one day was affected, but whenever I thought about her actions before and after that day, my feelings of resentment grew.
About a week later, it became obvious to me that this state of mind wasn’t helpful, so I began praying. I wanted to overcome the anger and bitterness. I prayed with the Lord’s Prayer, going through it slowly line by line, pondering each idea. When I got to the line that addresses temptation, I suddenly heard a clear voice in my thought: “I didn’t tempt you to feel that way!” I stopped for a second, surprised. Was God telling me that all of this had actually been prompted by a temptation?
All of a sudden, feeling offended—and out of sorts—appeared to be a choice! I felt empowered to investigate the deeper issues that were plaguing me. My acquaintance had neither caused those issues nor acted out of ill will. As soon as I realized that I had a choice, I prayed to see the entire matter from a higher, spiritual perspective. This quickly put the anger behind me, and I saw the woman as the friendly person I had known her to be before the incident. Also, the burdened feeling soon disappeared, and life became more normal again.
I realized that God doesn’t tempt us to feel like a victim or to get angry at others. Irritation, impatience, or self-righteousness are temptations to act contrary to our God-given nature. Knowing that we don’t have to bow down to those temptations gives us power over them. This power or dominion, recognized, can be a quick and effective way to deal with discord.
When we’re tempted to act in a way foreign to our true nature as God’s child, even if the circumstances or mental arguments seem to justify our actions, we don’t have to take the bait. We can recognize God’s presence and power and stay obedient to His law of love. We can ask ourselves: Would God show us another response besides anger or being offended if we sought His view? And wouldn’t we be sure that His way can bring the situation to a harmonious resolution? The answer to both questions is yes.
Granted, the situation with my friend may seem small in contrast to other types of temptation. But it showed me the need to be alert to every temptation, no matter how insignificant the issue may seem to be. We have all seen examples of when a small disagreement or misunderstanding turned into something bigger or even ended in tragedy. Mary Baker Eddy tells us in Science and Health: “You must control evil thoughts in the first instance, or they will control you in the second” (p. 234).
Understanding temptation in a broader sense has been tremendously helpful to me when my first instinct wasn’t to be gracious. The ability to step back from a quick flash of anger or resentment and see the person in front of me—and myself—as God’s child has helped defuse some potential conflicts. Mrs. Eddy explains why this is: “Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more harm than one’s belief permits” (Science and Health, p. 234).
Being tempted to disobey God, and acting on that temptation, isn’t in our genuine nature.
Being tempted to disobey God, and acting on that temptation, wasn’t in the genuine nature of the above-mentioned biblical heroes, and it isn’t in ours, either. Like them, we are made in the image and likeness of God, Love. The image of Love can never be resentful because Love can never be anything but loving.
We read in First John: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him” (3:2, New International Version). I find this verse immensely comforting because it tells us that no matter what, no one will ever be less than God’s child.
My resentment of the woman’s behavior back then might have destroyed our friendly relationship if I hadn’t learned this lesson. I am very grateful for the incident between us because it made me a better person. Gaining a more rounded view of temptation changed my attitude about so many things, and I have gained a much better handle on small annoyances. Seeing them as temptations to engage in unconstructive behavior enables me to move to higher ground where I can ask God to show me how to resolve the issue, and then move on.
