Temptation

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

On 13 October 1961 C. S. Lewis wrote to a correspondent about how to handle temptation:

"Of course I have had and still have plenty of temptations. Frequent and regular prayer, and frequent and regular Communions, are a great help, whether they feel at the time as if they were doing you good or whether they don't. I also found great help in monthly confession to a wise old clergyman.

"Perhaps, however, the most important thing is to keep on: not to be discouraged however often one yields to the temptation, but always to pick yourself up again and ask forgiveness. In reviewing your sins don't either exaggerate them or minimise them. Call them by their ordinary names and try to see them as you wd. see the same faults in somebody else -- no special blackening or whitewashing. Remember the condition on which we are promised forgiveness: we shall always be forgiven provided that we forgive all who sin against us. If we do that we have nothing to fear: if we don't, all else will be in vain. Of course there are other helps which are mere commonsense. We must learn by experience to avoid either trains of thought or social situations which for us (not necessarily for everyone) lead to temptations. Like motoring -- don't wait till the last moment before you put on the brakes but put them on, gently and quietly, while the danger is still a good way off." Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume III, pp. 1285-1286

Prayer: Father, thank you for reminding me that the temptations I will face today are nothing unusual. And thank you even more that Jesus has already faced all of these temptations and overcome them. Help me today, in Christ, to be an overcomer. By your Spirit may I put on the brakes, gently and quietly, while the danger is still a good way off. But if I do fall, help me to remember that in Christ there is forgiveness. And by your grace help me to get up once again and keep on keeping on in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Will Vaus

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