Youthsurge Blog
Temptation to Be Liked - Part 2
12 July, 2008
Battling temptation is not easy, especially if you are going it alone. The great news is that the bible never sees us tacking issues like the temptation to be liked alone. The writer to the Hebrews makes this clear in the following passage:Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25 NIV)In view of this great relationship we have with God, because of Jesus' sacrifice (vv.19-21), we are told to put it into practice in five different ways. Notice though that the writer says LET US not you go and do this or that; it's US! The bible never views us responding to Jesus purely by ourselves.With that in mind, here are a few tips that we have picked up over the past term at Youthsurge's to help us work together in battling temptation.1. Temptation Text. If you feel the temptation to compromise, tee up with a Christian friend to do a Temptation Text. When tempted, SMS to your friend "the beast is hungry". When you get that SMS from your friend, you pray that they would resist temptation.2. For the youth leaders out there - help the youth you lead by examining yourself. Do you give into peer pressure? Is your self image dependent upon how others think of you? How do you handle the pressure to stay in style and have the body and the look? Do you emphasize outward appearance or inward condition? You attitudes to those things will be modeled to your group whether it is good or bad. Take time to do a spiritual health check up; your teens will love you for it.3. Pray, pray , pray. It's a spiritual battle that we are involve in here. In Matthew 7 Jesus describes the struggle of choosing who or what we'll follow in life. He calls us to make the right choice in following him down the narrow and windy path not the path that the majority of people are heading down because it leads to death. Pray for each other to keep making the right choices.4. Read the bible because page after page will tell you about God's great love for you, his acceptance of you, his mercy and kindness and you need to keep hearing it over and over because the priorities of this world speak constantly and loudly.5. Make sure your youth group is a place where Jesus' unconditional love is clearly expressed. Make sure that there aren't factions. Make sure that the outcast, the unloved and the lonely can find the love of Jesus there. Let's be different in our relationships with each other.
