TEMPTATION

 

Have you ever been tempted? Have you ever had that constant feeling to fall short of the glory of the Lord? I had initially said I am a Christian. I tend to read the word everyday but lately I’ve been having this constant desire to sin. Sin; such a big word isn’t it? Sin often regarded as dirt according to the Christian mind. But temptation is often luring. It has a sweet tone to it but ironically it leads to death; (Not literally but spiritually, but also literally, this is quite confusing but also easy to grasp). Temptation really is enticing and as the word records that we should not tempt others it does seem as a fun-feet. Why do I sound as though I enjoy temptation? But, just to clarify things with myself and you; I actually don’t.

But I don’t really understand how it works. Okay basically it starts as an idea and then you can’t shake it off until you do it, then you regret it. But with the word and Christ you can overcome it (I believe this is where Spiritual Maturity comes in). I haven’t fully understood how that works but sooner or later I will and I most certainly will share it with you just to make things easier. I am yet to also understand the human mind. Everything starts from it. It has a lot of power yet most of us don’t really acknowledge it. The mind has the power to make us or fully destroy us. Why is this funny though, or maybe this is my bad trait, to laugh during serious moments; But how does it work really?

I am currently living in a society that is preaching about us ensuring that we are taking care of our mental spaces. But how do you really do that? I’ve never experienced depression but I’ve read about it and I’ve heard people talk about it and most of them end up saying it’s a tough phase and end up using anti-depressants. But what about the Christian guy who is battling temptation? I know that the word helps and maybe am overthinking this but I’ve read the word and I know it but temptation really has no way of control. You may say practice makes perfect but every time you fall in sin you feel condemned. Condemnation is a feeling of utter disapproval, and ironically enough it all happens in our minds.

Am watching the series Vikings and am constantly amused by how the ‘Christians’ tend to beat themselves up when they sin. There’s that feeling of wanting to hurt yourself when we fail because it serves as the ultimate punishment for anything. I come from a community that believes the rod is the best form of punishment and trust you me it does work in most cases. I have experienced condemnation after I sinned a couple of times and I’d say there’s that feeling of wanting to hurt myself even though I know God has forgiven me, I still deserve to be punished. I believe this is what makes most of the Christians to fall into this dark pit and it becomes hard to retrieve them.

I love how the word says that we should renew our minds every day. I believe everything starts and ends in the mind but we tend to live in the in-between and we end up being trapped. We later become slaves to our mistakes and we lead an unhappy life yet we know the word says we are forgiven. The mind knows the truth but still lets us feel stuck, what kind of power is this? Condemnation is a result of failing when you were tempted but there are many scriptures that tell us not to worry when we fall, that we should rise up again and try again but most us fall and don’t rise up. I was listening to a certain artist and he said life has taught him that there is no such thing as mistakes; he said we should think of them as happy accidents that end up helping us grow. I really wish we could try and view life in this light.

I think I should try and enquire if we’d get phycologists to be given programs that would help us understand our mental health from a young age. I believe this would ensure most of our young people would have better mental fortitude as they grow. Anyways I think I’ve found my answer but before I give it let me test it and see if it works.

Basically, let’s try and listen to podcasts and read about mental health, and try and work on ourselves.

Peace, love and good mental space!