Temptation A Convenient Place to Put Blame Once, while I was at a friends church, I saw something that got me to thinking about the nature of temptation. The church members were gathering around particular members in order to invoke the holy spirit and set the person free of temptation. I began to wonder why they simply didn't "blame" the person for falling in the temptation. The "Hail Mary" asks God to, "lead us not into temptation," and even some court cases show that people aren't really responsible for their actions if the temptation is great (justifiable homicide). I suppose one would think that temptation was an "force" that "causes" us to do wrong. But delving deeper it's pretty apparent that temptation not quite as strong as we would assume. I mean, would it be impossible for some one not to cheat on a test if they could, even if they were getting a D in the class?...
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Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...(the answer is yes), would it be impossible for some one to not take a million dollars if they found it? Even if the answer is, "Only Ghandi" it is still yes. Trying to get rid of temptation is like trying to fix a leaky boat by draining the ocean.
A lot of people would have us believe that if God is all powerful, he is not all good, and if he is all good, he is not all powerful. I disagree. Some people would have tell you that life is about trying to become more like Jesus by letting God take us over and letting him "steer". This is pointless, if God wanted pieces of flesh to do what he wanted, he wouldn't have given us consciousness. That I think is the key. We are conscious over ourselves, and if God were to take that away, we wouldn't be. God is all good and all powerful, the reason that he lets us fall into temptation is to let the rewards be that much higher. Speaking of Temptation, this brings me to another point; if we got rid of the above mentioned, which you couldn't, all the people who would have fallen for it would still be the same people, nothing on the outside can change that. The change to fight temptation must come from within, not from a small group of very nice people on a Sunday night. Yes God can help (he's got connection's), but he doesn't do it be removing the temptation.
You see, temptation is just a useful device for personalizing human weakness. Its not really without, its as within as we let it. And while the churches Satin may be very real, his only power is to test us. Temptation can be overcome. For in the morning, we must all resist the temptation toward good.
The Temptation of Christ, 1854
English: Orthodox Church of Holy Spirit in Medzila...
English: Wall painting in Hardham Church, West Sus...