Y’all… I am HONORED to have my very own big brother Aaron writing today’s post! He is a gifted writer & very entertaining to be around 🙂 I am so proud to call him my big bro, and I’ve been asking him to write something for my blog for quite some time now (cuz he’s awesome).

I hope this speaks to all of you, especially any gentlemen reading this. Thank you Aaron for writing!

“Sin was strong, but
Jesus You’re stronger
Our shame was great, but
Jesus You’re greater”

~Elevation Worship, “Raised to Life”

This morning I was thinking about an instance in which I was tempted awhile back. I say tempted because that is where it started & ended. My mind began down a path of thoughts that was visualizing what “could have been” had I acted on my temptation.

As soon as I realized the thought pattern my mind was on (about a total of 10 seconds), I began to feel guilt & shame about even feeling/thinking about “what could have been”. I started thinking, “What kind of man / Christian / husband / father etc. would even think of such things? Only a man with evil desires in his heart.” Oh the guilt was coming on me now.

Then I realized something with Great Joy! I realized that my tempter (Satan) & my source of guilt, or if you’d prefer (my accuser), were one & the same. I also realized that I had no reason to feel guilty at all because I had won.

Scoreboard Satan! You lose! You lost when you tempted me, & you lose again because I will not feel guilty about a temptation I had and overcame! I will not feel guilt about having 2nd thoughts now about “what could have been” because I choose now not to dwell on those thoughts, & I’ll choose again to triumph over that sort of temptation, if it arrives in my path again.

I say this with confidence that God has given me through helping me (His imperfect servant) to overcome temptation in the past. “If I must boast, let me boast in the Lord Jesus” for He helps me to overcome.

Even Jesus was tempted, but like the song says: “He was Greater, He was Stronger.” The end of the song just happened to be on repeat as I worked this morning 🙂 & it says…

“Raised to Life | with Christ the Savior | in His name, a new Creation | now our song will rise | adoring Christ the Lord”

Prayer:

Thank You Jesus for not only helping me to overcome my temptation, but also to have the wisdom to recognize both tempter & accuser are both derived from Satan. Thank You God for helping me to feel “Raised to Life” & to feel like a “New Creation” a “Renewed Creation”…. and not a guilt laden person who is frozen by failure & triumph, but rather strengthened by Grace!

[Isn’t my bro awesome? If you have a moment, could you leave him a comment below to let him know you enjoyed his post today? Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!]