I have a problem of using food to try to settle myself down at the end of a day. I’ve known this about myself for years but haven’t done much about it. In my life, it’s been one of those sins Paul writes to Timothy about, the kind that isn’t outwardly obvious on the face of my life, but that follows behind to judgment (see 1 Timothy 5:24). Recently, God spoke to me about this: “You don’t need two...
Podcast: Singleness and Sexual Temptation
Is sex an essential part of human flourishing? How can our needs for intimacy be met as Christian singles? Josh, Kyle, and Bob kick off our series on singleness by discussing these important questions. They also discuss how singles are called to deal with sexual temptation, talking to Jesus about our temptations, and the commonalities of dealing with temptation between singles and married couples...
When Temptation Is Near and God Isn’t
What do you do when temptation is right here, inside you, when you can feel it coursing through your veins, pulsating through your body? When this happens, it can seem like God is far off, distant and disconnected, only perceptible with great effort. And in these times, it doesn’t so much feel like temptation is coming at us, but like temptation is coming from us, as though we ourselves are the...
Temptation and Soul-Care, a Review
This thought-provoking and powerful blog was posted a year ago today. To view the original post, and read the comments, click here. Question for you: how are you caring for your soul these days? Underneath whatever persistent temptations you’re experiencing you have a God-given need for something—something good, clean, and life-giving. A friend of mine recently visited Haiti. One morning, he saw...
Temptation and Soul-Care
Underneath whatever persistent temptations you’re experiencing you have a God-given need for something—something good, clean, and life-giving. A friend of mine recently visited Haiti. One morning, he saw a young boy walking to school along a muddy dirt road pocked with tire tracks. As he watched, the child pulled out an empty bottle, knelt down and filled it up with brown rainwater sitting in one...
Saying No To Temptation When You Don’t Want To
What do you do in moments of intense temptation? When I was struggling with strong and frequent temptations to view porn, a friend of mine gave me this counsel: “If you want to show God you love Him, obey Him.” His advice was both unarguably true and utterly unhelpful. I wanted to love God with a love that would choose Him instead of sexual sin. I just didn’t know how to get there. To me, when I...