Posted on by Abe Austin

Desire vs God

At one point or another each one of us has to fully resolve between our sinful desires and our faith in God. Let us look at the case of sexual desire.

At first, we may chase for gratification within the bounds of God’s laws. But what if that doesn’t work? Maybe our spouse doesn’t want to have sex with us anymore. Maybe we are more attracted to members of the same sex. Maybe no one wants to marry us. Maybe even if we do have good and frequent sex…our carnal nature still desires the forbidden fruit. In our modern culture, many think of their prohibited sexual desire as “who they really are inside,” making it a fundamental part of their identity. This complicates things further.

At this point, we may try to make the desires go away. We want to be good. We want to be chaste. We pray and ask God to change our hearts, to root out this wicked nature. But many find that He just doesn’t do so. He affirms His love for us, His word assures us that He has a plan for us, but He is not yet freeing us from our temptations.

Now we may start to flounder. We try to find a way to justify our sinful desires. Maybe we can use AI, since the scriptures do not have the language to expressly forbid it? Maybe we can go up to a certain point, but no further? Maybe we can be mostly good, but have a little vice, and Jesus will make it right? Maybe we can shift our belief system to say God didn’t actually command what He commanded? We look for anything to have our faith and cheat it, too.

But eventually, our integrity won’t allow us to do that anymore. Sooner or later, we come to the final, necessary choice. Cleave to the desire or cleave to God. Live a life of faith, even if it means accepting that part of us will always be dissatisfied…or choose to live in sin.

When people say they really tried to make their faith work, I believe them. I have no doubt that they really and sincerely tried to make these two incompatible pieces fit. I’ve been there myself. Sooner or later, so has every sincere follower of Jesus. But at some point, we run into the hardest instruction he ever gave us: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me,” (Matthew 16:24).

And maybe we say no. Maybe we embrace “who we are inside,” and cease to follow Jesus. And that reveals who was our true god all along.

Or maybe we do as he says. We deny “who we are inside,” take up the cross of being a broken person who doesn’t quite fit the image of God, and follow Jesus anyway. And that reveals who was our true God all along.

Either way, “choose you this day whom ye will serve,” (Joshua 24:15).

Posted on by Abe Austin

Tempted by Glory, Frightened by Pain

After his baptism, Jesus was led into the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days and nights in preparation for his earthly ministry. It was in that vulnerable state that Satan met him and presented to Jesus a series of three temptations. First, Satan suggested that Jesus should turn rocks into bread to satiate his hunger, then to prove his divine sonship by leaping off a building so that angels might catch him, and finally to receive all the kingdoms of the world as a reward if he would worship Satan.

We say that these were the temptations of Jesus, but it isn’t specified whether he was actually tempted by any of them. In the records that we have, Jesus seems to dismiss each offer without any trouble.

At their core, each of these temptations has to do with worldly pleasure and glory. The pleasure of satiating one’s appetites, the glory of receiving the honor of others, the glory of dominating the world. Jesus was given temptations of glory, but these might have had little sway on him.

But temptations of glory are not the only foe that must be overcome. Satan also influences mankind by our fear of pain. Fear of being an outcast, of being punished, of even being killed. Jesus was subjected to these also when he bore the sins and pains of the world, was betrayed by his own people, and condemned to a torturous death. Here, Jesus actually did seem to have been tempted to turn from his calling.

At the point of embarking on that great sacrificial journey he prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42). Not only this, but near the end of his suffering he exclaimed, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Jesus had been impervious to glory, but clearly not to despair. This does not surprise me. I believe that fear has more power over all of us than offers of glory.

Of course, it is important to note that feelings of fear and despondency do not, in and of themselves, constitute a sin, though they can ruin us depending on our reaction to them. In both cases, we must note that Jesus prevailed. In the first, he followed his desire for the cup to be removed with, “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” In the latter, even though he felt abandoned by his Father, still he showed continuing trust in Him with his final words: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Perhaps Jesus feared, but ultimately, he remained faithful.

Each of us will face both of these challenges in life, and at one point or another succumb to them. We will compromise ourselves for the glory of others, or we will shrink from our responsibility because we are crippled by fear. Knowing that these are the strategies of Satan, we can prepare ourselves to weather them as best we can, and when at times we inevitably fail, we can turn for help to the one that never did.