TEMPTATION 2 –Proving a Point
Matthew 4:5-7
“If you are the son of God throw yourself down…” Must we do certain things for people to believe who we are? Many times we are deceived to think we are what we do before men; that is performance. There is that inner battle to prove to people we are capable of certain things which they may have thought we couldn’t do. Sometimes when we are despised by others because of our inability to take up a certain challenge or task, the raging lust within says, “And I will prove to them that I can.”
Unknown to some believers, they are living their lives trying to prove a point. Something in their past is the cause for that zealous motivation to succeed, excel and dominate. Perhaps because of a failure while they were growing up, they had quietly or loudly (sometimes) said to themselves, “I will prove them wrong…”
So now that they have become believers, the battle still rages within them toward their goals. Whereas the Word of God says something and requires only submission to achieve the result, they will pursue that end in the energy of the ‘vow’ they had made to themselves.
This is one of the traps of Satan. He always wants us to outdo ourselves and in the end we become laughing stocks. May we discern this quiet trick so that God’s grace may be released to work to the accomplishment of God’s purpose in His own way in our lives. Amen.