Temptation follows me. It is a sexless thing, no shape or form except the one I give it. It follows me everywhere I go, all day, whispering in my ear and drawing my sight to evil things. There are times when it has infiltrated my mind in flashes of pleasure, promises of escape and relief. They are not lies.
But what of the cost? Do I sacrifice my humanity? My ability to reason? My self-control? For one moment of bliss? One moment that will eat away at my soul for all eternity? Because just as in one ear temptation whispers it's dare, in the other it curses "Monster!"
What is a moment worth? What is the creature at my back worth? Forever it will bite, forever it will gnaw at me, in my guts, chewing on my itching hands. "Just once more," it says. "Then I'll release you." But no. This is the lie.
Temptation will forever follow me. It will forever be attached at my hip, like a part of me that I was born with. Outside my mother's womb it waited. It waited years, for it is patient, and took me when my innocence was lost to the world. And now it has latched on, stubborn and refusing to let go. It was born when I was born and shall die when I die.
This I live with. It is an inhabitant in my home that doesn't pay rent. But just as it is stubborn, so am I. And I know the truth it wishes me not to see.
I can overcome temptation.
Temptation is my foil, my antagonist, my villain. But I was born with the strength to beat it. I did not come by this strength on my own. No, it was graciously given to me by God. And He is there to help me fight. There, you see him raise His hand and brace me with it. Because He is here for me.
And temptation falls. Surely, as all annoying villains do, it will rise again. But I need only seek out my God and He is here, deeper inside me than any sin could be.
And I am not alone. Not here, where the fight includes many. For temptation follows us all.
Nicely done
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