Temptation: Should we just do what we want to do?
April 2nd 2008 22:29
Come on, you know you want to. How many of us have heard this before? Since the Garden of Eden, it’s been a constant statement always there to try and lead us into temptation, whether it comes from an inner voice inside of us or an audible voice from another person. You know you want to. No, I don’t. Yes, you do.
The problem is that voice has a point. Usually we do want to. The thing with temptation is it’s tempting. If we didn’t want to do it, we wouldn’t even think about it. When that voice said come on you know you want to, we would simply tell it that it didn’t know what it was talking about.
So because we do want to, we’re tempted to agree with that voice. Because we agree with that voice, we’re tempted to just go along with it. And so temptation becomes reality. Then we realise we really didn’t want to do it anyway – even though, in a way, we did. Confusing, isn’t it?
The fact is we face and overcome temptations every day. We are tempted to press the snooze button for the eighth time and sleep in, but we get up and go to work. We are tempted to eat only icecream for dinner, but we cook ourselves a healthy meal. We are tempted to spend all our money on our clothes, but we only spend what we can afford. We are tempted to ignore our promise to take our kids to the park, but we get out of our armchairs and take them anyway.
Why do we do this? Because although there is something we want to do, there is something we want even more, something of greater importance. We go to work because we want to keep our jobs and get a good pay. We make ourselves a good meal because we want to remain healthy. We only buy one dress because we want to keep money for necessities. We take our kids to the park because we want them to be happy. It’s not a matter of choosing between doing what we want to do and not doing what we want to do. It’s a matter of choosing between two competing desires.
When that voice comes along saying you know you want to, don’t argue. It’s pointless arguing with someone that is right. But tell that voice what else it is that you want. Remind yourself that giving into temporary temptation now could jeopardise the things that are of greater importance.
So should we just do what we want to do? Yes, we probably should. But we have to bear in mind all the things we want to do, all the things that are importance to us, not just the ones that are sitting next to us saying come on, you know you want to.
The problem is that voice has a point. Usually we do want to. The thing with temptation is it’s tempting. If we didn’t want to do it, we wouldn’t even think about it. When that voice said come on you know you want to, we would simply tell it that it didn’t know what it was talking about.
So because we do want to, we’re tempted to agree with that voice. Because we agree with that voice, we’re tempted to just go along with it. And so temptation becomes reality. Then we realise we really didn’t want to do it anyway – even though, in a way, we did. Confusing, isn’t it?
The fact is we face and overcome temptations every day. We are tempted to press the snooze button for the eighth time and sleep in, but we get up and go to work. We are tempted to eat only icecream for dinner, but we cook ourselves a healthy meal. We are tempted to spend all our money on our clothes, but we only spend what we can afford. We are tempted to ignore our promise to take our kids to the park, but we get out of our armchairs and take them anyway.
Why do we do this? Because although there is something we want to do, there is something we want even more, something of greater importance. We go to work because we want to keep our jobs and get a good pay. We make ourselves a good meal because we want to remain healthy. We only buy one dress because we want to keep money for necessities. We take our kids to the park because we want them to be happy. It’s not a matter of choosing between doing what we want to do and not doing what we want to do. It’s a matter of choosing between two competing desires.
When that voice comes along saying you know you want to, don’t argue. It’s pointless arguing with someone that is right. But tell that voice what else it is that you want. Remind yourself that giving into temporary temptation now could jeopardise the things that are of greater importance.
So should we just do what we want to do? Yes, we probably should. But we have to bear in mind all the things we want to do, all the things that are importance to us, not just the ones that are sitting next to us saying come on, you know you want to.
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