"It's just this one time."

"It won't hurt anyone."

"No one will know."

"I deserve this."

"You won't die!"

Chances are, you've heard one of these phrases lies in your head leading up to a choice. This is called, being tempted.

You found yourself with a decision to make. Do I give in and take the thing that I want, or do I pass? It's not an easy choice. Sometimes our flesh can want something so badly that we feel like we have to have it. We can convince ourselves of just about anything. We can justify just about anything. And, even though we know it's wrong, in that moment, we just don't care.

For me, when I get to that point, it is usually because I made a series of smaller decisions that lead me to that place. I made bad easy choices, meaning, I gave into a little temptation, that lead to a bigger temptation, that lead to the, "I have to have this or I will die" mentality.

When I started to notice the triggers that lead down that path, then I could avoid those seemingly impossible choices. When I started winning the small battles, the big battles decreased. That's not to say I'm perfect, far from it, it just means I am aware of my weakness; of my propensity to mess things up, and blindingly aware of my need for relationship and communication with my creator.

But why? Why does that even have to be a problem? Why do I have to face these choices?

Being tempted goes all the way back to the beginning.

Genesis 3:1-7

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?