Leading Myself Away From Temptation

by, Brittany Pierce

I am so excited to share something that has helped me in my journey as a Christian. Part of the Christian life is that we face sin at every turn. It is new every single day. Sometimes we win, and so many more times, we lose. Even more unfortunately, we all have one sin that we struggle with the most. It reoccurs throughout life. It pops up again and again. You might be like I was. You might think that things just “happen” to you, and you cannot help it or yourself. You might think that this sin is TOO much for you to handle.

Well, let’s be honest! It is TOO much for you to face, by yourself. You are supposed to ask for help. You are supposed to repent and request assistance. God is so gracious and kind in ways we can never truly comprehend. He helps us, and He is close to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit, the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 34. 

Proverbs 7, to me is your way to help yourself (as much as you can). Because while sin is a part of our lives, it doesn’t just HAPPEN to you. YOU are a part of the problem too, which means you can be responsible for how you respond to situations and how you got into a situation in the first place.

We read in Proverbs 7 that we should call “Wisdom our sister” and “insight or understanding our intimate friend.” I cannot think of a woman out there who does not want to be best friends with insight and sisters with wisdom. By proxy, she would have similar qualities. Who doesn’t want to be wise? Isn’t that what we seek daily?

The title of this Proverb is “Warning Against the Adulteress”. The first question that many will ask is “How does this apply to me?” Some may even think I am not an adulteress; I love my husband. I don’t even have a husband. This proverb is for “other” people. This is for me to have in my knowledge bank to provide to someone else. This Proverb is for EVERYONE because we are all sinners. We all fall short of the Grace of God. We all fall short of perfection, by a landslide. This Proverb provides hope because we can see why this young man fell short this time. 

As a woman, I was taught to always be aware of my surroundings, do not stay out too late, and never go to the bad side of town. As a teenager (lacking sense), I found myself running to my car more than once because it was too dark, too late, or a little sketchy where I was. I would walk quickly to my car, press unlock, get in, and then lock my doors. While I made it to the safety of my car, the young man in this proverb did not make it safely down the street. We were both in the wrong place at the wrong time. We both put ourselves in this situation.

This young man is described as lacking sense. He is too young to be wise yet, he’s a youth, but he doesn’t have to be too young to be aware. He is out at twilight; this is not a time one would be out and about, except for disreputable purposes. The young man clearly does not know what time it is. He is not paying any attention to where he is going either. He passes right by the adulteress’s house. He was headed in that direction already. The woman was able to quickly sweet talk him into the scenario. It does not take much for him to go into her house. Solomon is warning that her house is the way to Sheol.

How many times do we walk down the street at twilight when we are lacking sense? How many times do we fall into temptation because we were at the wrong place at the wrong time? Your struggle might not be an adulteress. You might have a shopping addiction with credit card debt that you try to hide from everyone. Are you driving toward Target when you don’t have anything you are supposed to do? You might struggle with gossiping. How did you suddenly have so much free time to call four people to “vent” about someone else’s problem? You might struggle with something more severe to your body like drugs or alcohol. Did you need to stop by the store? Did you have to hang out with the friend who always offers you wine? 

One of the points of this proverb is that we do have control of our decisions. We have to be intentional with what we do, when we do it, and with whom we interact. Is that easy? NO! But when you don’t wander around aimlessly like the youth in the Proverb, you walk with a purpose. You don’t put yourself in situations where you are constantly tempted. You help yourself by being deliberate in your plans for your life. You don’t walk down the street at twilight. Here is the hope for us all: you don’t have to do this alone. You can’t! You pray to God, you ask for help, you repent, and you turn away from sin and towards Jesus. What a beautiful hope we have! Jesus is always there to help us at every turn!