Temptations of another

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

We are not capable of understanding the temptations of another. We each have our own temptations that we deal with each day.  What occurs in someone else’s world often disturbs us and may even be terribly offensive. 

Standing in judgment of a person that struggles with a temptation different than our own is dangerous territory. 

Jesus tells us to first remove the log in our own eye before we help another remove a speck in their eye.  This is wisdom we come to understand only after learning what log exists in our own world - what temptations we face and what battles we have lost. 

It is easier to see the battles of another than our own.  Our battles may seem quite small in comparison.  But are they?

A very Godly man, many years my senior, spoke across a lunch table a week ago explaining that a young couple that chose to live together outside of marriage would not receive the blessings of God so long as they continued living in direct contradiction to God’s ways.  As I struggled to understand the basis for this statement, I found the more interesting inquiry was what was in my own life that might have the same fate for me. 

I am unfamiliar with the scripture that supports the concept that a particular sort of behavior blocks the blessings of God, but conceptually, I can understand that if a particular temptation battle is lost day in and day out, one may have a hard time appreciating the abundance that God has in store for us.  In this we are no different than another person.

This scripture says that what we struggle with is common to man.  We all have temptation.  A lifetime of learning how to win the battle against temptation is therefore set before us. 

If we focus on the battles of another in judgment, we have lost the battle today.  If we work on our own temptation today, we win.  Accept the faults of another and love them in spite of what you think is the issue they face. Show love only and that is enough.  Do this even though you find their struggle offensive or even disgusting.  What they struggle with is common to man.  The strength to overcome is found only with God - not in your words of advice to do better.  Save that advice for yourself.