What it takes to overcome temptation

Introduction to the Devout Life
Part IV – Chapters 1-15
Friday November 17, 2006
Korean Language Group

1. Some Christians think that temptations are the something from the world or Satan, and they often think the sin is not because of their weakness or fault but Satan. Such attitudes of temptation and sin are like the attitude of Adam and Eve. When God ask the reason eating the fruit of the tree in the middle of garden, Adam accused Eve, and Eve blamed her fault on snake. Many people’ s attitude of the temptation and sin is similar to Adam and Eve.

Protestants have a tendency to depend on only the power of Holy Spirit in order to overcome temptations, and so it may happen that they do not use any personal effort, because they think nobody can win against the temptation that comes from Satan. Thus, they believe that if anybody prays for overcoming a temptation, God will give him/her the victory even without his/her effort. Because of this attitude, we can make an excuse like Adam. Just as Adam said, “the woman you put with me”, he eventually blamed God, so we can make excuses that we are too weak to overcome temptation.

Francis, on the other hand, seems to think that our attitude is important when confronting temptations. According to him all people cannot avoid temptations -- even Saints lived in the middle of temptations. Therefore, what is important is our courage in facing temptations. Francis teaches us that we have to correctly understand the nature of temptations and continually use our personal effort in order to overcome them. Then our spiritual level gradually grows also thanks to this effort.

2. Francis said that it is different between feeling temptations and consenting to these. We talked about the pleasure of when trusting temptation away. We shared our experiences that could obtain more pleasure and freedom when they follow Jesus than when they stay in worldly sweetness from temptations. In other word, we are confronted by the temptation, but it could do us no harm. Rather by the temptation, we could seek more deeply spiritual life. However, we agree with the fact that this was seldom experienced in our life, but rather we very often have fallen into the temptation, because we do not have a good spiritual guide that helps us living in the world of temptation. Francis clearly explains, especially in chapter 7, us how we can thrust temptation away. Francis’s advice of temptation will be a great text for spiritual exercise to lay persons.

3. Moreover, our group newly perceived that anxiety bring our spiritual life serious harm by chapter 11. We thought that anxiety is just the state lacking the faith before, but Francis clearly said, “Anxiety is the greatest evil that can befall us except sin”. Anxiety not only leads us to deep restless and sadness but also make estrange us from God.

Francis also said, “Anxiety arises from an inordinate desire to be freed from the evil we experience or to acquire the good we hoped for.” This means that anxiety has closed relationship with secular desire. Saint James also said, “ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin…” (James 1:15). Many Saints taught that our soul might be filled by Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, or God as much as we empty our will and desire. Thus Francis said, “when you experience the beginning of anxiety, entrust yourself to God” .

Jongsoo Kim