Sermon reflections: Little things that help us fight temptation in a big way

Note about sermon reflections: If this is your first time reading one of my "sermon reflections", I will always have the full audio, video, or written sermon available for you at the bottom of my post. I will try my best to provide a wide variety of sermons, from all different Christian denominations. I will write reflections or take away messages about sermons from Dr. Charles Stanley to Father John Corapi, and Tony Evans to N.T. Wright. I truly believe that there is beauty in all different styles of Christian worship, and the first step is opening our heart and actually listening to what people from different Christian traditions have to say. We may find that we are more alike than we thought. Whether you are Baptist, Catholic, Assemblies of God, Episcopal, or another wonderful church in the body of Christ, I ask you to open your heart to a style that may be different from your own, lay to rest your grudges and knee-jerk reactions to something that seems different than the style at your church, and you may be pleasantly surprised! Please join me in building the spirit of unity between all brothers and sisters in Christ.

"We love to neatly package another leader's style of church into a box and label it irregular or defective. We accuse the church we abandoned and defend the version we have customized.No one is more opinionated about church models than I am. Throughout my life, I have realized God is doing something in a lot of different styles of church. We need to be careful about demonizing those who don't practice church the way we do, and learn from every version of church whose mission is to lead people into a better and more authentic relationship with Jesus Christ. God is a lot bigger than our definitions or labels, and I am sure HE is not worried about how your church compares to the one down the road."
~ Reggie Joiner (Think Orange)

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Genesis 3: 1-7

1 Corinthians 10: 12-13

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it."

Questions to ask ourselves when we are being tempted:

1.What is the consequence?
2.Am I willing to pay the consequence?
3.Is there any other way to have this need met that is not dishonoring to God?

If we truthfully ask ourselves these questions when struggling against temptation, the answers just might help us stand up and fight in our weakest moments.

There is also an acronym (halt) that can help us avoid temptation altogether. When one of the things below starts to build up in our lives, we should do something about it right now, instead of putting it off and letting it become so bad that we start to struggle with temptation.

Don't let yourself get too:

H- Hungry
A- Angry
L- Lonely
T- Tired

If any of these things build up too much, they are open doors for sin to walk right in and consume our lives. A lot of times we try and treat the effects caused by being too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, when we should be dealing with the root of the problem itself. If we are too lonely, that loneliness will dictate our actions whether we want it to or not. If we are too angry, we will start involuntarily taking out our anger on other people. If we are too lonely, we will start to try and fill that loneliness with unhealthy things that will never quench our thirst for profound relationships with God and others. If we are too tired, we cannot be much use to anyone, including ourselves.

Personally, I struggle the most with hunger and anger. Often the two go hand in hand. When I forget to eat a meal, I often get cranky and start to get angry for trivial reasons. I then sometimes lash out at people simply because I am not taking care of my body and therefore I cannot function as I normally do if my blood sugar is high enough. If I simply worked on eating more regularly, I would prevent myself from mistreating others because of my low blood sugar. This sounds like a small example, but it is honestly often the difference between a good day and a bad day. The concept is the same with bigger things, but the consequences quickly grow. In what areas do you struggle, and in what ways can you halt and stop temptation before it starts? On that note, I think I need to go eat breakfast!

Listen to the full sermon in two parts straight from Atlanta, Georgia: the struggle with temptation
Note: enter March 2011 for part one and two given on March 9th and 10th