As I've been reflecting on the temptation of Christ, I've been taking some inspiration from His example of resisting temptation. Out of everyone on earth, Satan would probably try to tempt Him most of all. After all, if Satan could get Jesus to commit even one tiny sin, Jesus' perfection would have been undone, rendering the Atonement of Jesus Christ impossible. If Jesus went down, the whole human race would go down with Him, making Him the most prime target Satan ever had.
Yet, Jesus successfully resisted temptation every time it appeared. He overcame every temptation and stayed strong and pure for His whole life, and I don't think He tapped into His godly powers to do it. I think He resisted temptation the same way we do (or can). And if He could resist temptation without using His special status as the only begotten Son of God, so can we.
Jesus' ability to resist temptation is inspiring because we all also have that ability. Jesus likely faced stronger temptations than we will ever face, and He overcame them, probably using only the same strength we have (or can have). Jesus made it possible for us to be forgiven of our sins, but first, He showed us that it's possible for us to avoid those sins in the first place.
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But HOW did He do it? He prepared: He fasted and prayed. He knew the scriptures and quoted them. He kept perspective. He probably thought about Heavenly Father when Satan tempted Him. Did He think about us as well? If we think about how our actions might effect those we love, will we find more strength to resist? Iknow I need to step up my prayer life and do more than just read the scriptures.
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