Have you ever been tempted? Have you ever found yourself struggling with temptation? I might add another question: Are you a human being? Temptation is a fact of life on this earth, isn’t it? And many of us have discovered by personal experience that there is a devil, long before we discover by personal experience that there is a God.

As a teenager, I concluded that my problems with temptation should be over and done with by the time I reached my twenties. But when I was in my twenties, I decided it was going to take a few more years. I would experience freedom from temptation in my thirties, I decided. But each new decade brought its own set of problems. I hate to admit what age I’m aiming for now! The painful reality is that we live in a world of temptation, that the devil is alive and well, and that he never leaves anyone completely alone.

His persistence is equaled only by his malice, and when he can’t cause someone to sin, he is willing to settle for causing them to suffer. Temptation is not a pleasant experience! Hebrews 2:18 says of Christ,

“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

But when temptation ends in failure and defeat and sin, the suffering is even worse. If we could only discover how to handle temptation, we would be in a position to answer a major question that many people are asking. Often the methods proposed for handling temptation depend upon how much willpower a person has or does not have, and what appears to work for the strong is ineffective for the weak.

As we begin to consider this subject, let’s remember again that sin is not based upon behavior.

We’ve already studied the fact that sin, singular, is living life apart from Christ, and that sins, plural, (doing wrong things) are the result of that separation.

In the same way, we can draw a distinction between temptation, singular (the temptation to live life apart from a day-by- day relationship with Christ) and temptations, plural, which would have to do with wrong actions, or wrong behavior.

If I am struggling with temptations, plural, then what is my real problem? It is the lack of a constant trust in God. That’s why the devil does everything he can to separate us from an ongoing relationship with Christ, for that is where our trust in God develops. If the devil can get us to choose to live life independently of Jesus Christ, temptations plural, will be successful as a matter of course.

“The soul that loves God, loves to draw strength from Him by constant communion with Him. When it becomes the habit of the soul to converse with God, the power of the evil one is broken; for Satan cannot abide near the soul that draws nigh unto God.” – Ellen G. White Comments, S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 937.

So let’s nail it down right to begin with, that the real issue in temptation is to live life apart from Christ.

If you are giving in to the temptation to begin each day without taking time for prayer and the study of God’s Word, if you are living life at a distance from the Lord Jesus, then you have lost the battle already. Temptations can be overcome only from within the framework of a relationship with Christ.

And as we go on to consider how to handle temptations, plural, it must always be from the base of having first understood how to handle temptation, singular–the temptation to live separated from God.

But the Christian who is daily surrendering to Christ and spending time learning to know Him better and trust Him more may still find that not only is he tempted, but that he has given in to temptations. If that is true for you, then a study of the mechanics of temptations may bring a breakthrough.