Unique Temptations

But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. –James 1:14

I think of sin and temptation as Satan’s twisted version of giftings. Each one of us is created with a unique mix of gifts from God to perfectly fulfill the unique calling He has on our life. Satan is not a creator – he doesn’t come up with anything new on his own – he just twists what God has already created. Sin and temptation are the twisted version of gifts. In other words, just as we have been given a unique mix of gifts to fulfill the calling God has on us, we also have a unique mix of temptation weaknesses that lead us into sin.

Some people struggle with gluttony, for others, it’s not a big temptation. Some struggle with self-doubt, or alcoholism, or power, or control, or pride, or selfishness, or anger, and more likely we all struggle with some unique mixture of all of these areas of temptation and sin.

The good news is that there are people who struggle with the same things we do. There are people who struggle with it more, and some that struggle with it less, but there are others out there. Even better news than that: whatever our unique cocktail of temptation, Jesus died to free us from the bondage of sin and the broke the power temptation has over us.

We need to learn our weaknesses so we can surround ourselves with accountability and seek prayer and formulate strategies for overcoming.