Temptation: A Question of Identity

Discovery of self

Reflecting on poor decision

“That was so foolish”

“I don’t know what I was thinking”

“I will never do that again”

In our pursuit to understand ourselves, we make poor decisions that have negative outcomes

In the wake of these decisions we realize the following

Repeated decisions will have greater consequences

This is not the person I want to be or become

I have been called to live differently

These experiences are part of the process of understanding our identity / personhood

The firmer our grasp on our identity the harder it becomes to make poor/regrettable decisions.

Function of Identity

"If you are the Son of God”: A challenge to identity

The devil was confused about who Jesus was:

“he (the devil) could neither believe that He was a mere man, because of the things spoken concerning Him; nor could he accept that He was Son of God, seeing Him hunger.” ~St. John Chrysostom The Medicine of Salvation

Jesus does not fall into temptation because He knew His identity as the beloved Son of God…There was no confusion on His end…Not EVER

Drawn v. Led

Without any confusion of His identity, Jesus was ‘led’ into the wilderness to be tempted.

Matthew 4:1 NASB95

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus came to save, which meant He must show us how to stand up to and overcome temptation.

The most indispensible tool for facing temptation is fasting

The environment of temptation

Hunger

Matthew 4:2 NASB95

2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

The meat and potatoes of temptation comes when we are hungry

Physical hunger is often equated to desires/passions

Lust/greed/pride/sloth/etc

Separation/Wilderness

Matthew 4:1 NASB95

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

We are always drawn out…

James 1:14 NASB95

14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

The 3 Challenges to Identity

Our production

"Command these stones to become loaves of bread”

Our possessions

“All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

What others think of us

“throw yourself down; for it is written He will command his angels concerning you”

Why does the devil temp

If a focal point of temptation is on our identity, then we must realize that there is something so precious and valuable in our identity.

“For the devil would not have attacked you if he had not seen you brought to great honor” ~St. John Chrysostom The Medicine of Salvation