Mother Goose Comes to Church

3 Little Pigs – How to Handle Temptation

The story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf has been told for years.  The big bad wolf is sin that comes and tempts us to destroy our lives.  These pigs had heard about the wolf and they built houses to protect themselves from him.  As you know two of the houses fail to withstand his wind.  He huffs and puffs and blows their houses down.  One pig’s house survives the wolves attack.  He built his house to stand strong against the attack of the wolf.

We need to stop and just not see this as a simple children’s story, but as a pattern for our lives to resist the temptations that will be a part of our lives.  After all, like the wolf we can never be certain about what time temptation and sin will come growling around our lives.  So we better plan ahead and build a house and life of bricks if we are to stand up to what the wolf and the world will throw at us.

The BRICKS we Need to Build Strong Lives

Believe You Can Get Burned

You cannot carry hot coals against your chest without burning your clothes.

                                                                                                Proverbs 6:27

Many people have fallen to temptation because they never really believed that they could fall to temptation.  We need to realize that if we play with fire we will get burned.  If I know I can be burned then I need to be on the watch for any fire that is near me.  Caution can sometimes be our smartest move in life. 

Rely on Christ to Help

And now he can help those who are tempted, because he himself suffered and was tempted.                                                          Hebrews 2:18

We need to always remember that we have a Savior that understands our struggles.  He conquered them without giving into temptation.  He will offer us help if we ask.  He will be the voice that guides us from within our hearts.

Involve Some Back-Up

Make this your common practice.  Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a  person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.

                                                                                      James 5:16

There is a reason God said it was not good for Adam to be alone.  It is because every once in a while we need someone to pick us up and pray for us.  We need to have people in our lives who will encourage us to do good works and to call out our flirting with the wolf.

Counter Evil with Good

Do not let evil defeat you, but defeat evil by doing good.

                                                                             Romans 12:21

There are times when we are tempted that we simply need to get up and do something else.  When our minds begin to wander towards the wrong things we need to engage our thoughts in good things.  It is to remember that good can overcome evil if we let the good work in our hearts.

Know Your Weaknesses

Do not give the devil a way to defeat you.

                                                          Ephesians 4:27

This verse is encouraging.  The only way the devil can defeat us is if we give him a way to do it.  So if we don’t give him clues as to where we are weak he will not know where to attack.  So don’t let him know anything.  He will tempt us with anything he can until we give in.  He will keep coming back to us with what he knows will trip us up.  So the more we resist him the stronger we will become.

Start Training Today

You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win! All those who compete in the games use self-control so they can win a crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed. So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air. I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others.                  1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Resisting temptation and having our house and life stand strong just takes work at times.  We need to accept that there is not an instant fix to temptation.  Just like that pig we had to build our lives one brick at a time.  The best day to start training yourself to stand against temptation is today.  If we are going to have a house that will stand it comes one brick at a time.

Those two pigs learned a valuable lesson when they run to a house that was made to stand strong.  When we resist temptation it is not just for ourselves but we can serve as an example for those who are in our lives.  What we build our lives out of will determine how well we will live our lives.