Paul's Thoughts on Temptation

Paul's Thoughts on Temptation
Get rid of the old yeast... 1 Corinthians 5:7
Paul gives us four thoughts to keep in mind when it comes to temptation: 1) Where we consider ourselves strongest, is where we're least likely to prepare for attack. One man tells of getting involved in an affair. He recalls a conversation he had with a friend before it happened. Friend: 'If satan were to blow you out of the water, how do you think he'd do it?' Man: 'In all sorts of ways...but there's one way he wouldn't get me.' Friend: 'What's that?' Man: 'My personal relationships. That's one area where I'm as strong as I can get.' A few years later in the very area where he predicted he was safe, this man's life and marriage fell apart. Paul warns: '...Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall...' (1 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV). 2) What seems innocent, can be destructive. Addressing the temptations of the flesh, Paul writes: 'Everything is permissible for me-but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me-but I will not be mastered by anything' (1 Corinthians 6:12 NIV). Stop and ask yourself, 'Will this benefit or hurt me? Does it have the power to control me?' 3) Flirting with temptation guarantees that at some point you'll give in to it. Again Paul weighs in: '...Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?' (1 Corinthians 5:6 NIV). Paul isn't talking about cooking, but about carnality, and his advice is, 'Recognize it, avoid it, eliminate it from your life!' 4) Failure won't cut you off from God's grace, but it can destroy your potential. With that in mind, Paul says: '..I discipline my body...lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified...' (1 Corinthians 9:27 NKJV).