Temptation

Catchy title...common theme

There is a movie coming out next week about it

my daily devotional touched on it today as well

we all face temptation, its unavoidable but how you handle it..its not a will you be tempted but when you are..what do you do..are you ready

temptation can be in our relationships..like the movie will touch on and hey when we receive attention from someone other than our spouse how do we handle it
do we think" they will never know" ...do we think..well they have been so busy lately...are we so excited to have someone new pay attention to us...are we tempted

are we tempted to join in office gossip
are we tempted to be mean or childish or selfish
temptation is beyond cheating, stealing, and/or lying
temptation can be found everywhere

my devotional today talks about how to avoid it..how to beat and overcome temptation and i think its important to share it

you do have to have your mind aware and present and want to overcome it..that can be done by thinking about the consequences...i listen to steve harvey's strawberry letter in the morning and it is all too evident what happens when folks live for the moment and give in to temptation without regarding themselves, their families, and the repercussions

be smart about it..think with your brain..think with your heart..think beyond yourself..think 5 minutes or even 5 months from now and what the worse case scenario can/would be

you have to know you can resist whatever is drawing you in..dont succumb to the "i'm weak" theory or other justifications for your actions
think about how good you will feel when you do not cave

also avoid the traps and areas of weakness....if you know dunkin donuts is your downfall..dont walk by...dont stop there for coffee or tea...dont set yourself up

it's like an alcoholic..they know there are certain situations they should not be in because it is too easy to slip

i am thinking of a friend now who is in a situation that involves having to deal with the mother of a child..its easy to have a match as to who is the better woman..my friend hands down is (not because she is my friend) but the other mom is a drug user and someone just not in a good or responsible place in her life

but i feel like my friend sometimes triumphs in spotlighting this womens faults and shortcomings

i feel like she is tempted to always prove why she is better or to dance on the failures of this woman

and while this other mom is not perfect she is a person and guess what who is without fault

i kinda have lost some respect for my friend the way in which she is handling this situation

instead of keeping it discrete and amongst a few its plastered on Facebook or pushed out to anyone who will listen

and at what point are you no better
you may not be doing the drugs but if your character triumphs in someone elses failures that is a reflection on you

i have had to deal with my own situations...where a coworker who i strongly dislike came to work on my team and i had to train her

i could have taken that situation several ways..i could have stooped to her level or been the bigger person

by not giving in to temptation i was the bigger person and it was noted by others

i wish she would do the same..unfortunately she is too busy justifying it saying -its not her fault that she did/does the drugs or she gets what she gets but

who are we to judge

we all stumble we all make mistakes but acknowledge it and move on..dont let your mistakes define you

dont let it take you over

i know i may have jumped topics or strayed from the original path

but maybe the next time temptation is knocking-whether that is being short with someone or lying about not wanting to talk to them

just pause and think how you can be the better person

and whether you are doing good or harm

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“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
― Dr. Seuss