The more we focus on God and live in his truth, the less we will struggle with the temptations of this world. Also true is that as long as we are in this world, we will never be able to live without the temptation to sin. The Apostle Paul wrote, “God is faithful and he will provide a way of escape,” but he also wrote in his letter to the Romans, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing” (Romans 7:18–19).

If the Apostle Paul struggled with his sins, we should expect to struggle too. We want to be consistently faithful to God, but we can also know that consistency will always be difficult to achieve.

Thankfully, we have a perfect, loving Father who, as Paul said, “is faithful” to us. God does not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability and always provides a way for us to stand strong in the temptation and escape the sin. Paul knew that God provided him with the spiritual strength he needed, even when he didn’t live with that strength as he should. 

There are moments we are tempted to set aside our faith in order to fully enjoy a pleasure the world offers. Later, those moments have passed and we are left with words we wish we hadn’t spoken, people we wish we hadn’t hurt, and a witness we wish was more intact. We had a good time, for a moment, but we know that we “set aside our faith” for the sake of something less important.

Why do those moments happen in the life of every Christian? Paul told us we had a way of escape and that we wouldn’t be tempted beyond what we could endure. Yet we were tempted, and we did not escape our own choices. 

The Holy Spirit is a one-time addition to our lives, but being led by the Holy Spirit is a moment-to-moment choice. The Spirit of Christ is constantly speaking his thoughts into our day, but, as with any conversation, it is up to us to listen and then act on the words we hear.

Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We shouldn’t expect to live in this world temptation free. Even Jesus was tempted in every way. Jesus was the only sinless person who will ever exist. Our failures are inevitable, and God redeems those times by helping us find our way out of those weaknesses and giving us the strength to endure and overcome them the next time. 

Our earthly spiritual lives are not about perfection; they are about growth. Our heavenly lives will be our perfect reward. Until then we remember: yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Whenever we are tempted, we can choose to yield those moments to God and he will lead us through the temptation to a greater reward.