Shell Perris looks at the best way to deal with tempatation

Shell Perris
Shell Perris

Picture this...you find a twenty-pound note on the floor. You pick it up, hold it in your hand and before you know it, temptation kicks in. Twenty pounds...imagine what you could do with twenty pounds. Those shoes that you saw in the shop window at the weekend could be yours! You could buy that sound system that you've been saving up for. Or maybe you could use it to get your hair done really nice before you go on holiday. You're busy thinking of all the things you could do with this twenty-pound note when you start thinking, 'But is it mine to keep?' Who does it belong to? Should I hand it in to lost property? Is it stealing if I keep it? Suddenly you find that you're torn and don't know what to do. Temptation says, 'keep it' but your conscience says, 'give it back.'

In Genesis 39:7-12, the Bible talks about Joseph and one of the times he experienced temptation when he was approached by Potiphar's wife. She was up for it (by 'it' I mean sex) and was willing to do anything to get it! Now I know Joseph was a very Godly man but he was indeed a man and he would have found it very difficult to say 'no' to Potiphar's wife. He knew that she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. He also knew that it wasn't going to be a good idea to stick around because something could end up happening that he would later regret. So he ran away. He didn't put his moral strengths to the test, nor did he waste time trying to politely work his way through a very sticky situation...he just got out of there as fast as his legs could carry him and ultimately, he did the right thing.

I think that Joseph's response in that story is an example to us all about how to react in times of temptation. We shouldn't stay put and try to deal with it ourselves. We should run away! If you saw a massive muscle man that had it in for you walking towards you, would you stay to see if you were going to get hurt? No! You would run like the wind! So when it comes to temptation, don't wait to see what's going to happen...get out of there before it's too late.

Do you know what it's like to experience temptation? If so, what happened? How did you react to it? Are there any ways that you could stop it happening again? CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.