“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Gen. 3:6)
Temptation is certainly nothing new; it has been around since the beginning of creation. Ever since Lucifer fell from his exalted position, because of his pride, he has been trying to tempt man away from God. And because Satan is a liar, there are some lies he tells us about the temptations we face.
LIE #1—“I am being tempted because I did something wrong.”
Don’t get me wrong; when you fall to temptation you have sinned. But just being tempted is not a sin, itself. Eve had done nothing wrong before her temptation. It was only when she gave in to the temptation that she sinned. The Bible says Jesus experienced temptation, yet we know He never sinned. You are not tempted because you did something wrong. You are being tempted in order to get you to do wrong.
LIE #2—“If I were more spiritual, I wouldn’t be tempted with this.”
Different people are tempted by different things. What tempts me might not be a temptation for you. And what might be a temptation for you might not tempt someone else. No matter how spiritual a person is, temptation will come their way.
(1 Cor. 10:13) says that temptation is “common to man.” That doesn’t mean it is common in the sense that every man is tempted by the same sin, but rather it is common in the sense that everyone is tempted by something. In other words, it happens to all of us!
Tomorrow, I will give you the last two lies Satan wants us to believe about temptation.