The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren—A Synopsis (continued). Chapter 26—Growing through Temptation (pages 201-208) Summary God’s purpose for every Christian is to convey the image of Christ, which is a goal that a believer can arrive at incrementally through correct choices when confronted with temptations. Every temptation provides opportunity to the believer to make a choice either for good or evil. As the believer is able to make the correct choice he grows in the image of Christ, which reflects the fruit of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. But to make the correct choice when faced with temptation, the believer must by faith allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through his life. It is important always to understand that power to defeat any temptation cannot come from anything other than the divine source provided by God, which is the Holy Spirit indwelling every believer. The believer though has been given the power of choice, which is his alone to exercise. God grows and cultivates the fruit of love in a believer through contact with unlovely people; the fruit of joy through situations of sorrow; the fruit of peace through situations of chaos and confusion; the fruit of patience through slowly developing situations, and so on. In short, God uses situations that reflect the opposite of each fruit in order to produce and ripen the fruit in the character of the believer through the exercise of the believer’s will (choice). Divine attributes are validated only through the defeat of the temptation to be or do the opposite; faithfulness over unfaithfulness, integrity over dishonesty, humility over pride, endurance over surrender—every time a Christian defeats temptation, he becomes more like Christ. How temptation works. The Bible reveals that Satan is predictable and uses a four-step process, as he did with Adam and Eve in Eden, as follows: 1. Satan observes a desire within the believer. The desire may arise as a suggestion by Satan to do evil or to execute a legitimate desire for the wrong reason or at the wrong time, but the desire always starts within a believer’s mind and not in the circumstance confronting the believer. 2. Satan creates doubt of God’s Word (purpose and will). Satan always attempts to convince the believer that God’s Word regarding any matter is incorrect. Satan uses any means available from rationale to incorrect interpretation to outright denial in doing this. 3. Satan constructs deception regarding the wrong choice. Satan will always produce a variety of lies within the believer’s mind regarding the temptation, through friends, society, sin-miniaturization, false-justification, philosophy, etc. 4. Satan convinces disobedience to God’s Word (purpose and will). But although Satan may be successful in all previous steps, it is the personal choice of the believer to give in to Satan and to disobey God’s Word, thereby committing sin. How to overcome temptation. · Refuse to be intimidated by temptation. The believer must understand that temptation is a normal occurrence in life; Satan will never stop trying to derail any life lived for God. If the Christian expects it, he won’t be intimidated by it, but can consider it “somewhat” of a compliment and a validation of his commitment to God. · Recognize the unique patterns of temptation and avoid them. Within every Christian’s life there are circumstances tailored to his own peculiar weaknesses that can be more tempting than others. Satan knows them, so it is important that the Christian not only know them too, but that he takes precautions to avoid them. · Request God’s help to defeat temptation. God provides efficacious help (indwelling Holy Spirit) to defeat every temptation, if only the believer will ask (prayer) and expect (faith) it from Him. Quotes “Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.” (pg. 201) “Every time you choose to do good instead of sin, you are growing in the character of Christ.” (pg. 201) “To have the fruit of the Spirit is to be like Christ.” (pg. 202) “Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.” (pg. 202) “God uses the opposite situation of each fruit to allow us a choice.” (pg. 203) “Always beware of shortcuts.” (pg. 203) “Temptations always starts in your mind, not in circumstances.” (pg. 203) “What began as an idea gets birthed into behavior.” (pg. 204) “You will never outgrow temptation.” (pg. 204) “Temptation is a sign that Satan hats you, not a sign of weakness or worldliness. It is also a normal part of being human and living in a fallen world.” (pg. 205) “Temptation only becomes a sin when you give in to it.” (pg. 205) “You can be attracted or even aroused without choosing to sin by lusting. . . . But attraction is not lust until you begin to dwell on it.” (pg. 205) “You should identify your typical pattern of temptation and then prepare to avoid those situations as much as possible.” (pg. 206) “Temptations keep us dependent upon God. Just as the roots grow stronger when wind blows against a tree, so every time you stand up to a temptation you become more like Jesus.” (pg. 208) Scriptures James 1:12; Galatians 5:22, 23; 2 Corinthians 2:11; Mark 7:21-23; James 4:1; Hebrews 3:12; John 8:44; James 1:14-16; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 5;8; Matthew 26:41; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 8; 1 Peter 1:13; 4;7; 5:8; Ephesians 4:27; Proverbs 4:26, 27; 16;17; Psalm 50:15; Hebrews 4:15; 4:16; James 1:12. Conclusion/Comments Temptations are opportunities for Christians to make correct choices and thereby grow spiritually. The believer should never become discouraged when he fails to make the correct choice. God doesn’t give-up on the believer; the believer can ultimately fail life’s temptations by giving up on God, even though this will have no affect on his ultimate destination of heaven. After each temptation, successfully defeated or not, the believer must become reinforced in his intent to defeat the next one by God’s power of the Holy Spirit working through him. The believer can expect nothing less than warfare with Satan throughout his life, but he may be certain of the final and glorious outcome of eternity with God.