Suppose you went into the grocery store and someone had removed all the labels on all the containers in the store. As you went around trying to find food, you wouldn’t know if you were getting food or rat poison. What if you went through life without having any labels on the spiritual issues of life? Just like there are things that taste good that will hurt or kill you, there are things that feel good that will hurt or kill you spiritually. God knows and has identified all those things that are good for you and all the things that will harm you. Temptation takes place when Satan tries to get you to do something that God has labelled sin.

Here are the labels God has put on things that are good for you and can be ingested into your spirit: Gal 5:22-23 (NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. You can eat this kind of fruit and it will bless, empower, and make you spiritually healthy. These are the things you can allow into your life and they won’t hurt you; God has labelled them as being spiritual food.

Gal 5:19-21 (NIV) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery (excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures); idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Why does God label these and other things sin? Because they are things that will destroy your life and the lives of the people around you. These are the things Satan tempts you to get involved in because he is trying to destroy you.

Have you ever seen a commercial that promised things it couldn’t possibly provide? Have you noticed how beautiful and handsome the people are who present beauty products? Will those products make you look like them? If you buy a certain brand of clothing, will it make you be as popular as the commercial implies? Do you really need the newest upgrade that the commercial indicates will make your life so much better? A lot of commercials have the same characteristics as Satan’s temptations. They over sell and under deliver. However, Satan’s temptations not only under deliver, they addict you, contaminate you, damage you, and can even kill you spiritually (separate you from God).

God knows the truth about all the THINGS you are exposed to in life. And, He makes sure you know the truth about them. If you really want to be happy, blessed, and successful in life, then all you have to do is let Jesus and the Bible lead you through the process of choosing what is good and best for you. You won’t have to use the trial-and-error system for making your choices. Have you ever bought a brand of food and found out it tasted horrible? A lot of times you have to buy a big quanity of something only to find out you don’t like it. With God, you are able to try out all He has to offer so you can make a knowledgeable decision as to whether or not you want it.

Satan and the world take good things and insert wrong, bad, or evil things inside them. They will take sex that God created as a good thing and try to get you involved in fornication or adultery. You are offered pleasure by getting involved in a sexual relationship prior to marriage (fornication); or, you will be offered pleasure for having sex with someone else while you are married to another person (adultery). With fornication and adultery, you get involved with someone you are not committed to and who is not committed to you. You and they would be two people involve in a sexual relationship that God hadn’t blessed. You can cheat on them, leave them, and not support them; and, they can do the same to you. If the female becomes pregnant, often the child is murdered because it was outside a marriage. Satanic bait consists of two things; it contains a wonderful provision of God such as sex but has a hook in it. It is used by Satan who puts an evil hook in the good things of God. When you yield to that temptation, Satan reels you into a life of sin.

You are a spirit being who lives in a body; you ARE a spirit and you HAVE a body. You and your body aren’t the same; it has a system for life; and, you have a set of principles for life. Your body is very similar to a wolf; it has drives that are animalistic. It is selfish; has reproductive sex drives, has survival instincts, and will try to dominate as many people as possible through a “peck order.” Its main rule is the survival of the fittest. It will hurt people, use them, abuse them, cheat them, lie to them, mislead them, and steal from them as long as it can keep from getting caught or having to pay for its sins. Satan’s temptations flow into your body; your spirit has to learn how to yield to Jesus so you can keep those temptation from activating your body.

Rom 7:22-23 (NIV) For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. You have the ability to do to others what you would have them do to you (Mat 7:12). And, you have the ability to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31); but, your body doesn’t. When you were wanting to be selfish, self-centered, and prideful, you and your body were in full cooperation with each other. It seemed like your body was just a passive tool that simply went along with whatever you wanted. But, the moment you wanted to obey Jesus and the Bible, you soon found out that your body had drives, passions, and desires of its own. And, you found out that it had more power to enforce those drives, passions, and desires than you did to resist them.

Rom 7:22-23 (NIV) For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see ANOTHER LAW at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. Satan’s temptations make sense to your body; he caters to the animalistic desires and drives of your body. But, Jesus has a way for you to win over the weaknesses, drives, tendencies, and pressures of your body against your spirit. However, you start out in the Christian life losing the battle against your body. Satan tempts your body with all kinds of sins and misdeeds; and, your body drags you right into them. Even though you are a Christian, you find yourself having the same failures you had before. BUT, there is a difference between you as a Christian and you as a sinner. You now WANT to do the right things; and, you now HATE doing the wrong things.

Rom 7:15 (NIV) I do not understand what I do. For what I WANT to do I do not do, but what I HATE I do. Once these WANTS and HATES come up in your spirit, your battle against your body starts. You got saved; but, your body didn’t. 2 Cor 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, HE is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! This happened to you, the spirit being; BUT, it DIDN’T happen to your body. The real spirit you is the one who is wanting to do what is right, good, and righteous. But, the body you, is the one who is wanting to do wrong, bad, and evil things; AND, it is powerful enough to go against your will and do them. So, you and Jesus are going to have to join forces and win over your body.

Rom 7:20 (NIV) Now if I do what I do not WANT to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Sin is still living in your body; your body still has a sinful nature resident in it. Rom 7:18 (NIV) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. You can’t win over temptation without the power of Jesus; your body is too powerful. But, before Jesus can help you win, you must understand the difference between self-confidence and self-esteem and God-confidence and God-esteem.

As long as you believe in yourself, you CANNOT believe in Jesus. As long as you believe in yourself, you will TRY to live the Christian life by using your own power, efforts, skills, abilities, and world training. THESE THINGS WILL NOT WORK! As long as you have self-esteem and confidence, Jesus won’t be able to point out anything that is wrong with you. It will always hurt your feelings and hurt your esteem and confidence when Jesus points out errors in your life. There are a lot of things that you are doing wrong that desperately need to be replaced with Biblical truths. But, if every Biblical truth hurts your esteem and confidence, you will reject it.

Rom 7:16-17 (NIV) And if I do what I do not WANT to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. Sin is still living in the body you; but, sin is NOT living in the spirit you. But, if the body you is forcing the spirit you to do what YOU do not want to do, that situation must not have an effect on your esteem and confidence. Obviously your confidence and esteem are going to have to transfer over to Jesus so you don’t get down. Rather than believing in yourself, you are going to have to believe in Jesus. Rather than being evaluated by this current behavior of your body, you are going to have to let Jesus evaluate you. The spirit you has been made the righteousness of God, in Christ Jesus; that must inspire your confidence and esteem. Since being born again didn’t happen to your body, it must not be allowed to contaminate your esteem and confidence you are getting through Jesus. Rom 8:10 (NIV) But if Christ is in you, your BODY is dead because of sin, yet your SPIRIT is alive because of righteousness.

Jesus is going to be dealing with the misdeeds of your body. But all during this time, you must always stay aware that you are NOT your body. This will empower you to take criticism about the behavior of your body without it hurting your esteem or confidence. You and Jesus will be able to deal with, evaluate, and work on the deeds of your body without hurting you and your value. Rom 12:1 (NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Even though you don’t know how to do this to your body yet, God esteem and confidence will help you be willing to do it. Even though this procedure will involve some pretty pointed, straight forward, and honest evaluations concerning your body’s behavior, you will feel good about it. Once you are set free from self-esteem and self-confidence, you and Jesus will be able to start making your body do the right things.