Nobody is temptation proof. Even  mature Christians have weaknesses in their spiritual armour that make them vulnerable to a wounding attack by the enemy of their souls. Our pride can provide the very opening needed for the sharp thrust of a satanic dart. So can the love of money, a quick temper, a critical tongue or chronic impatience.

What, after all, is temptation? It’s any enticement to think, say or do something contrary to God’s holy will. It may be a weak impulse or a powerful urge. It’s anything that’s against what God approves or desires for us.

The ancient Greeks told a story of a warrior named Achilles. His mother had been warned that he would die of a wound, so she dipped him as an infant in the river Styx. That was supposed to make him invincible. But she held him by one heel which the protective waters didn’t cover. And it was through that heel that he received his fatal wound.

Each of us must ask: What is my Achilles heel? We need to know our weaknesses, where we could easily be wounded spiritually. Then, as we rely on the Lord for His help, we will be protected from “the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16).


Our greatest weakness may be our failure to ask for God’s strength.

Author

vernon c. grounds

Topics

Our Daily Bread