Growing Through Temptation

I have always hated temptation. Wanna know why? Because I've always seen it as the pathway to my downfall instead of an opportunity to grow and make the right choices. Temptation actually is a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block. It simply provides a "choice" and every time I choose to do the right thing instead of choosing to sin, I am growing in the character of Christ.

I've been asking myself a lot lately about the fruits of the Spirit (how to really get them and what that would look like if I had them). Every time temptation would come knocking, I would feel like I was still weak and failing because this thing is still hanging around in my life. But then I realized that there were plenty of times when I did make the right choice instead of sinning and that was a gold star on my chart. I was focusing so much on my mistakes, convincing myself that I was still stuck in the same ol' pit. I didn't see that I was actually learning how to climb out through the temptations I faced.

God does want me to develop his fruit, so he's going to allow me to experience circumstances where I am tempted to do the exact opposite quality that he is producing in my life. For example, a person can't say they are loving if they've only been around easy to love people. A person can't say they are patient if everything is always going their way. Character development happens in the trials of life, where you have to make tough (right) choices. Once you've made tough choices while being tempted enough times, your character has been developed to be like Christ and you have finally changed (at least until the next trial)!