Hi, singles! Welcome back to another single Saturday. I will start this blog by bringing your attention to a familiar story in the bible, Genesis 2:4-3:24. It all started in the Garden of Eden when Eve was tempted by the serpent who was very crafty. The bible states in Genesis 3:1 that the serpent said to the woman (Eve), “Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” This is where it all began (temptation) when Eve was easily tempted by the serpent. Eve said to the serpent, Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die”. The serpent goes on to say to Eve, “you will not certainly die”, (he quickly deceives her) “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So of course, Eve saw at that moment that the fruit of the tree was good and for food and pleasing to the EYE. There it goes, the EYES, where it all starts. This was that tasty part of temptation when Eve was being tempted by the serpent to go totally against what God had instructed her of what to and what not to do. We all know that afterward, she took some and ate it and she even gave some to her husband Adam. Verse 7 says “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Had they not been tempted by the serpent, the fall would not have happened.
Okay, let’s bring this thing home, to this day and time. We’ve all experienced temptation in some way and I must admit, maybe even you will agree with me that sometimes temptation seems tasty and very inviting. Sometimes the temptation is even hard to resist even though the bible tells us in James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” I’m sure that some of us have heard this familiar scripture before but honestly, how difficult has it been for you to resist any form of temptation? I know for me, it hasn’t always been easy, but there were times when I was able to resist. As for us as singles, temptation can look, sound, and feel, like many things and it can be a struggle sometimes but I am here to let you know that it is not as difficult as it seems to resist and not give any place to. Your mind just has to be made up, and when you decide that it's God's way or the highway, then you've resisted in that moment.
Most tempting situations are obvious and so are the consequences. If you know that placing your hand onto a lit stove will burn you, then why test it out? For example; kissing, touching, and especially sex is too soon in the beginning stages of dating or a new relationship. We’ve all met a person that caught our eyes and we thought right away, wow, I’d love to take him/her out on a date and get to know him/her. Or we’ve been the one that has been the eye candy of another admirer and those same thoughts have crossed their minds. So, you meet, exchange phone numbers, began calling/texting one another and next comes the opportunity to set up an official date. On the date, let’s say you both are feeling each other, interesting conversation, both are looking good, fine, sexy whatever LOL! After the date, you both have to go your separate ways and of course, that’s home, but neither of you is ready to go home because the date was so refreshing and lovely that you don’t want the night to end but wait, this is only your first date together and you both should really call it a night, and maybe just call or text one another instead of taking this date a step further. So, instead of going home, you both decide to just Netflix and Chill uh oh… now wait, you’ve already been to the movies but when one of you introduces this idea, the other thinks maybe this isn’t a good idea and I’d agree to that. But, someway, somehow, this temptation is starting to become tasty because your flesh is saying “let’s take them up on the offer to Netflix and Chill” but your inner man/spirit is saying “no, this isn’t a good idea", just go home and look forward to more dates because if temptation will have way, it has a chance to win. Do you remember movies/t.v. shows/images where one on a persons' right and left shoulder, theres and angel on one and a devil looking creature in the other shoulder? Well, that’s how it is when that bully called temptation rises its' head. You have to fight the good against the bad. So, let’s be honest, if that Netflix and Chill deal went through, something is bound to go down and we know what that is, as Steve Urkel once referred to it as the horizontal polka, yep, i'm just going to say it, sex. We're all adults here. Now, I'm not telling you what and what not to do, I'm just sharing some info to hopefully help and bring enlightenment to your experiences whether that be past, present or future.
Now, here are some scenarios; You’re alone together, hormones are probably raging and the temptation is very high, the movie/t.v. show is not even a part of the plan anymore. The shoulder pals are in both ears now. This happens when a person has both their good and bad conscience talking to them and the temptation gets tastier and tastier because, after a while, you’re not even into the movie, you're more into each other and thinking about taking things to the next level but you don't know anything about one another and you haven't even established any boundaries, connection whether that be spiritually, or intellectually. You both just want to go all-in but maybe just one of you feels the need to not take it that route, and hopefully, you can resist the temptation that seems to taste so good.
What do you do when you're put in a compromising position and you want out but your flesh wants all in? I'll tell you, it's not easy but, you can do it, you first pray and ask God to give you strength to resist the temptation as His word says, that Satan will flee if you resist him. Philippians 4:13 says that "I can do all things through Christ that gives me strength". What you don't want is to allow one moment to cause you to feel shameful and doomed the next hours or the next day because guilt can set it easily and you'll end up questioning yourself asking "what have I done, why did I give in so easily, I've let God down, will He forgive me"? You don't want that to carry that weight around. God will forgive you but, if you carefully think things through first and stop to consider what things could be like on the other side of your decision, then you'd more than likely not have to carry around the regret.
Temptation can start not seeming to be so bad, but eventually, it will get tastier as your mind began to wander and thoughts of giving in to sin began to sit in your mind. Kissing is the catalyst, it gets the temptation engine running, and sometimes if it's successful, it runs full speed ahead and eventually will end up crashing. My grandmother used to say that "kissing and touching lead to other things so be careful". We all know what "other things" are that she was referring to. Your job however is to simply resist, say no, it's okay to let the other person know that, this isn't a good idea or a good time, let them know you're worth more than a few hours or minutes, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Especially if you're not ready to take it there, take it slow, getting to know and not rushing to get "know" if you know what I mean. Don't allow the temptation to force you into doing something with someone that you may soon regret. I'd like to share something with you my friend, I'm not perfect, I've messed up before also. I mean, I wasn't just a lose Lilly, LOL! but I've lived and struggled with moving past my mistakes, guilt, shame, and healing from regret. Ultimately though, I did move past it all and I've learned from my mistakes. Therefore, I want to encourage and inspire you to not give in to just a moment. I hope that the picture I've painted didn't make you feel uncomfortable in any way because, for my purpose to be fulfilled on this platform, I have to be transparent.
I'll leave you with this phrase I've developed, "Temptation is a tempter of many things that only seeks to take away trust within yourself, to resist what may only seem tasteful at the moment but can leave you with an after taste called regret. Don't taste nor sample it, it's no good."
So, how are you going to deal with tasty temptation when it steps up on the scene? Have you ever experienced temptation? Was it hard to resist? Hit up the comment section and let's talk about it.
Much love peace and blessings,
Demetria
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