A person is brave not when they act without fear, but when they act even though they are afraid. That, and that alone, is true bravery.<\/p>\n
If you are not tempted to eat liver and do not eat it, that does not make you a spiritual giant. If you are tempted to eat chocolate cake and do not, that is what makes you a spiritual giant. One of the more monstrous evils perpetrated against human beings is the deeply held belief, the false guilt, of imagining that being tempted is the same as sin\u2014misusing the words of Jesus, that if you\u2019ve \u201clusted in your heart\u201d then you\u2019ve as good as done it. Jesus was not arguing that temptation is the same as doing the sin, and that if you\u2019ve been tempted then you are guilty and an awful person. He was condemning Pharisees who came up with complicated rules that allowed them to bypass God\u2019s commands so they could sin all they liked while technically following all the rules (Matthew 5:27-28).<\/p>\n
It is an absurdity to believe that temptation is sinful. Jesus was tempted we are told, but yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). This is not some metaphysical mental game of deep spirituality. It\u2019s very simple. <\/p>\n
Jesus was tempted to eat chocolate cake. <\/p>\n
But he never did. <\/p>\n
Something to remember: you can only be tempted to do something you want to do. If you are hungry, then you can be tempted to eat. If you are not hungry, there is no temptation. Someone may try to get you to eat liver. If you hate liver, you are not being tempted and the fact that you don\u2019t eat the liver doesn\u2019t make you a spiritual giant. It simply means you don\u2019t like liver.<\/p>\n
So stop feeling guilty because you want to eat chocolate cake. If you aren\u2019t eating it, then you are doing well; then you are being a spiritual giant. Just like the terrified person who goes ahead and saves people from the burning house in spite of her terror is being brave.<\/p>\n
Stop worrying! Stop feeling guilty! Stop imagining you are an awful person for being tempted. Jesus was tempted (Luke 4:1-13). Was he an awful person because of that? <\/p>\n
Don\u2019t let anyone else make you feel bad because you are tempted. Temptation is part of being human. Resisting temptation is just what Jesus did. <\/p>\n
You are being like Jesus when you are tempted, and you are being like Jesus when you don\u2019t give in and act on it. <\/p>\n
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