Article June 7, 1900 Issue

Overcoming Temptation

BY MRS. BELLE THOLEN.

These words of Jesus, "Get thee behind me, Satan," mean a great deal more to us as Christian Scientists than they ever did before. We often think it is hard when we are tempted, but that is not where our trouble lies; it is yielding to the temptation, however small it may be, that makes our burden heavy. Jesus was tempted of the devil forty days in the wilderness. Did he hesitate or stop to think what a hard time he was having? No! He knew at once, that it was error trying to dethrone his perfect understanding of God, he also had implicit faith that God—his Father—was able to protect him from all forms of evil.

Is not every temptation the effort to convince us that there is another power besides God, that God is not an ever-present help in all kinds of trouble? When these whisperings come to us do we not sometimes listen just for a moment, but long enough for error to gain ground, be it ever so little, in our consciousness? After the door has been left open even a little, we then commence to try to get rid of our unwelcome visitor. We all know how much harder it is to rid ourselves of this guest, than it would have been had we not admitted him in the first place; this to my sense is where the hard part comes in. It all lies with us whether we make our pathway up the Hill of Truth of easy ascent, by overcoming each and every temptation as it comes to us to-day, or whether we make the way burdensome by stumbling and falling over the seeming rocks (discords of every sort) that error has placed in our way. If we were never tempted, we should never have an opportunity to know how firm we stood for Truth, or whether we would stand at all. It is putting on the whole armor of God that makes us strong and ready to withstand every dart from the wicked one. Jesus was clad with the full armor of Truth and Love, and it was his perfect understanding of God's protecting power that enabled him to overcome all temptation. If Jesus had been overcome of evil, when tempted in the wilderness, do you think he would have overcome evil in the form of sickness as he did, later on in his career? No. The fact that he did overcome instead of yielding, proved the powerlessness of error to touch him. And we can do the same, when, like Jesus, we are ever ready to speak with authority to every form of error as he did. We read in Matthew, 4:10, "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve," and we are told that the devil left him and angels came and ministered unto him. Have we not had the same angels minister unto us when we have battled with and overcome a claim of discord, no matter what phase it may have assumed?

Dear brother or sister, we need not worry over the number of trials that present themselves to us; but our part is to watch carefully the number that overcome us, and see that we have very few to our credit. We are told in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker G. Eddy, p. 276, "Through great tribulation we enter into the kingdom. Trials are proofs of God's care." Also on page 408, "Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger." In James, 1:12, we read, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him;" also the second and third verses of the same chapter are helpful to us.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Christian Science in Paris