Monday, February 2, 2009

Day 26 - Growing through Temptation

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DAY 26

Point To Ponder: Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.

Verse To Remember: "God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." (James 1:12 NLT)

Question to Consider: What Christlike character quality can I develop by defeating the most common temptation I face?


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5 comments:

  1. Jer can learn to exercise self control by defeating daily temptation to lust and Jess can learn joy by resisting temptations to be negative about herself and circumstances. Boy, those crazy kids have a lot to work on.... :)

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  2. I can learn to develop more self-control by trying to talk less and listen more. I can also work on acheiving more peace by not letting negative thoughts cinume me- which I have been working on for a while now.

    I identified with so many parts of this chapter. I have had the bizarre wierd thoughts happen to me while I'm praying. I have gotten distracted. I have gone through the the step of doubt (pg 204) trying ot internally justify sin. I have definately had guilt and shame over temptation, and have gone through times where I don't even bring it up to God out of shame (as if he didn't know!) I have been embarrassed to ask for help. I really felt this was a good chapter for me to read, especially with bitterness or negativity I can harbor towards others that I need to let go.

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  3. Boy, the anonymous person sure knows Jer and Jess! Who is this masked crusader?!
    =)

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  4. I really liked these two statements:
    "Every temptation is an opportunity to do good."

    "Every time you choose to do good instead of sin, you are growing in the character of Christ." pg. 201

    In all my life, I have never thought of temptation as being an opportunity to do good. When I think of temptation. I think of words like; Evil, Battle, Resistance, Wrestle, Weakness. This new perspective is very refreshing- When I am faced with temptation I just need to say, "No! I choose good. I choose what is right."

    The one true character that I need to possess is SELF-CONTROL. This word opens a full spectrum of things I need to work on. SELF-CONTROL will help me to control my desires to eat crap all day long. S-C will allow me to be more loving to my wife, especially how I speak to her. S-C will allow me to remain faithful to her in my heart and with my eyes.

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  5. I just wanted to let Lynn know that I can relate to her comments. I too struggle with distractions during prayer and sometimes have to ask for forgiveness, mid-prayer, for crazy thoughts that seem to pop up out of nowhere! I've also been through the guilt-shame-mercy cycle (lather, rinse, repeat) time and again and have had a hard time realizing that TEMPTATION does not equal SIN (T != S, in computer lingo). We just need to make the right choice when we ARE tempted, which happens frequently enough to give us plenty of chances.

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