When you get to the age of 15, you begin to enter the world of automobile training. The first step in the process is to get your learner’s permit. What this means is that you can drive as long as there is a licensed driver in the car with you. But before you can obtain this permit, you must complete a series of tests, mainly vision and knowledge. After completing these tests, you can begin operating a motor vehicle. Once you’ve turned 16 years old and graduated to a normal license—which requires a driving test in addition to another vision and knowledge test, you can begin to drive on your own. The process of teaching a person how to drive is extremely important not only for their own safety, but also for the safety of everyone on the roads. If a person were to get behind a two ton machine and attempt to drive it on the interstate without any prior training, guidance, or experience, a terrible accident could occur. By training people about the fundamentals of driving, lives are being spared and accidents avoided.

Everyday you enter a world full of potential accidents that we call sin. While not all sin is a result of an accident, we are mainly focusing on non-intentional sin. For those who are trying to live their lives for Christ, sin is a result of not being prepared or equipped to handle the temptations coming their way. It is a proven fact that older people have experienced more things and are more prepared to handle them than younger people. However, this does not mean that you must sit around and wait for every temptation to come your way in order to be prepared for it. That would be foolish. You must take the time to be prepared to handle the temptations you know are out there and then continue to learn new things as you grow older. Going off into the world with no training on how to battle temptations is certain spiritual death. So where should you begin if you want to be prepared for this battle?

It begins with knowledge. One of the first tests to get a learner’s permit is a knowledge test. It is an examination over the rules and laws of the road. If you are to survive in the spiritual world, you must know the dos and don’ts of spiritual warfare. Most importantly, you have to recognize the spiritual road signs that tell you which direction you’re heading in—towards temptation or away from it. Are you going the wrong way down a one-way road? You have to know where the enemy resides and go the opposite way. You’ve got to know how to recognize the signals that will let you know when danger is coming your way. How do you do this? We have to go back to the scriptures to let them identify what the stumbling blocks are. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 18, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 4:31 and 5:3, 5, and 1 Thessalonians 4:3 are great places to go for lists of things referred to as “the sinful nature.” Galatians even says that the acts of the sinful nature are “obvious,” as if we could recognize them by their characteristics. James gives some of the most helpful advice possible in fighting the battle against temptations and Satan’s schemes: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (James 4:7-8) The greatest knowledge is the kind that can only come directly from God. If you are striving to be closer to him and come to a deeper understanding of what he wants for your life, God will come closer to you. If you resist the devil, he will flee from you. These words are eternal. They are very true. By becoming closer to God, you become more like Christ, which means you become more aware of temptations around you.

There are Christians who try to fight the battle against temptation by themselves. They are the ones who will be fighting the battle against temptation for as long as they live. Others, however, have won the battle against certain temptations in their lives. These people have recognized that they cannot do enough or be strong enough to win the battle against temptation so they have given up. Not given up fighting, but have given it up to the Lord. He has begun to carry their burdens for them so that they can focus on what really matters, which is their relationship with Jesus. Does this mean that they no longer struggle with temptations? No. It means that they rely more on the power of Jesus to get them through it than on their own abilities. It does mean that certain things that were temptations to them at one point may not be an issue for them anymore. With God on your side, you can win the battle against some temptations. Others, however, will never go away. You can only find hope in the fact that Christ is helping you win the battle on a daily basis.

Once you have learned what the different temptations are, you must take it to another level by recognizing which ones are bigger battles for you personally. Everyone struggles with different things. Some guys struggle with drugs; some struggle with sex. The ones that struggle with drugs may not struggle with sex and vise versa. You must come to an understanding of what your personal weaknesses are in order to build up extra awareness and safe guards. If you know that you cannot get on the internet without accessing adult content, you need to recognize your weakness and either get rid of the internet or install content filters. Knowing your weaknesses will help you become more aware where you need the most help. Accountability is a great tool that can help you overcome some of your weaknesses. We’ll discuss that in more detail later.

The next step is taking the vision test, which is the second requirement of getting your learner’s permit. You have got to be able to see the temptations coming. This begins with having the eyes of Christ. Not being able to see when temptations are coming your way is like driving at night without your lights on. It’s stupid and dangerous. However, so many Christians drive without their spiritual lights on. They go through life not being able to see more than a few feet ahead. Then when some temptation comes at them quickly, they are unable to adjust and fall into sin. So many people who appear to be strong Christians are spiritually unaware of what is going on around them. Yes, they know all the right things and can quote all of the commandments and John 3:16, but they can’t see temptation when it is standing right in front of them. This is one of the primary differences between someone who is becoming a mature Christian and someone who is still a baby. The mature Christian not only knows what the temptations are, they can see them coming and avoid them. The infant Christian knows the temptations, but thinks they know what to do or that they don’t struggle with it. Vision is not only necessary, it is vital.

You must make the effort to not only have the knowledge of what temptations surround you and what your personal weaknesses are, but also to develop a vision that can see them coming. Without being able to do both of these things, you are still going to fail. Don’t forget the words of James, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” It is important to recognize your own insufficiency in the battle against temptations. Only with Christ’s power can you make any progress against the powers of Satan and learn intolerance for temptations.

PRINTABLE VERSION: LESSON 2