Many years ago, a young couple set in my office as I counseled them about their toxic relationship. In particular, he had been physically abusing her. In his own defense, he offered, "I just can't help it when she says something to make me mad."
"Really," I replied. Are you telling me that if you were angry with her right now and I told you that I had a gun and would blow your brains out if you hit her, you couldn't keep from hitting her? "Well, of course I could under that circumstance," the young man replied.
"So," I then said to him, "it's a lack of adequate motivation to stop that allows you to keep on hitting her." He didn't say anything in response, he just sat there rolling that thought around in his head. While he was doing that, I said, "Why don't we consider some really good reasons why you should stop from this minute forward.
What I said to hi was not some counseling trick, it was truth, which spoke to his circumstance and to yours as well. The righteous things God sets before us are not impossible for us as he assures that, he "can do more than we can ask or imagine according to his power at work within us" (Eph 3:20). I cannot be we don't have the power, it is more that we don't have adequate motivation.
You probably know of someone who couldn't quit smoking but did after being told by their doctor it was that or die. Many who just couldn't successfully diet finally did when they finally realized their life depended on it. I sometimes listen to the Dave Ramsey radio program while driving and get to hear couple after couple give their "Debt Free Scream." Typically their testimonial contains a moment when they finally had enough of having nothing and then set about paying off a mountain of debt they never though they could.
Motivation. As Christians faced with doing the right thing but thinking it's much too hard, shouldn't it be motivation enough to know our faith itself may be on the line? Shouldn't the fact that the souls of people in our community be motivation enough? Shouldn't the fact that our Lord calls us to righteous living be enough?
When we, as children of God, are ruled by the same temptations as the world around us and constantly give in to the same weaknesses as everyone else, where is the strength of our testimony? How can we offer the call of Christ to a people who don't see any difference in our lives?
I don't want this question to come across as a judgment as many reading this strive to live very God-honoring lives. And others truly struggle with demons that are deeply imbedded such a addictions your battling daily. Rather, what I hope you hear is a challenge to take your eyes off the struggle and set them on the Savior, listening to his call to and promise of victory instead of the voice of condemnation and defeat.
What I want you to hear specifically is, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it" (1 Cor 10:13). Jus' Say'n.
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