“Jesus will never cease giving us His Spirit of victory as He does in every Holy Mass. We can overcome temptations just as He did only if we also have deep conviction about our identity, mission, and destiny with God.”
Our lecturer in the seminary jokingly began his class one day by saying to us, “I can overcome all things in life, except temptations.” He definitely got our attention by that line. Then he went on to remind us that the battle against temptations is the first, most important, and unceasing battle for any serious Christian who is intent on following Christ to the very end.
Lk 4:1-13 shows us that Jesus began His public mission after His baptism by facing and overcoming temptations. We can also surmise that He was tempted throughout His life because after His victory, “Satan departed from Him for a time.” Jesus only gained a temporary relief from this victory. It seems the devil would repeatedly return with a vengeance.
In addition to being filled with and guided by the Spirit throughout His mission, there are three things by which Jesus overcame His temptations.
Jesus knew who He was before the Father. Jesus was clear about His identity as the beloved Son of the Father. He knew that He could always depend on His Father and every word He speaks. He was completely focused on pleasing the Father in all things. This is why He could reply to the devil’s temptation to turn stones into bread, “Man does not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Even in His intense hunger, He chose to depend on and please the Father and not give in to the temptation to provide bread for Himself.
Jesus knew His mission from the Father. Jesus knew that His mission was to serve and to sacrifice Himself on the cross, “The Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mt 20:28) Thus, when Satan offered Him all the “power and glory” in the world in exchange for Jesus worshiping Him, Jesus replied, “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone shall you serve.” Jesus would not change or abandon His mission for any earthly gain or glory.
Jesus knew His destiny with the Father. Jesus knew that He was destined to be glorified by the Father in Heaven, “Through Him, you have confidence in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory.”(1Pet 1:21) Jesus knew that His destiny was not to prove Himself, impress men on earth, or gain the service of angels. This is why He refused to jump down from the parapet of the temple as suggested by the tempter.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we too have this Spirit of Jesus from our Baptism. By this Spirit, Jesus faced and overcame temptations by living as a beloved Son of the Father. By this Spirit, He was faithful to His mission from the Father to the point of dying on the cross. By this same Spirit, Jesus was led by His Father through His passion and cross to the glory of the resurrection.
So why are we still being defeated by the devil in our temptations though we possess Jesus’s victorious Spirit? I believe that we give in to temptations mainly because we do not have these three realities stamped into our hearts and minds.
We do not have that deep faith in God as our loving Father. We easily doubt God’s love for us, especially in moments of trials and temptations. We lack confidence that He will always give us what is eternally best for us. We hardly connect with God’s abiding presence at those moments of intense temptations. We do not trust that “God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”(1Cor 10:13)
We do not realize that God is ready to save us from temptations if only we call out to Him in faith, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”(Rom 10:13) We may even give into the temptation because we assume that is easier to beg God for forgiveness after sinning than to resist the temptation by His grace. Consequently, we lack that firm determination to please God by overcoming temptations.
Because we lack this firm faith in God as our loving Father, we easily give in to the tempter and live in sin, fear, and self-condemnation.
We also have not fully grasped our mission from God. Many of us fail to realize the specific way in which God is inviting us to serve and worship Him with all the gifts that He has given to us. When we see ourselves as servants of God, we will make reverent use of His gifts for His glory and for the salvation of our souls. We will be careful not to abuse them through sin and selfishness. We will fulfill the purpose of our existence as stated by St. Ignatius of Loyola: “Man was created to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by doing so, to save his soul.”
We will easily give in to temptations when we do not see ourselves as servants of God gifted for His purpose. The devil will incessantly tempt us to make use of God’s gifts to gain more power, possessions, or pleasure. Eventually, we will lose our peace of mind and life will have no meaning.
We hardly reflect on our destiny with God as victorious saints. We are so caught up in our daily struggles in life that we easily forget that we are pilgrims in transit to our heavenly home. We are so focused on the struggles in our careers, finances, education, relationships, health, etc., that we ignore the ongoing battle with temptations with its eternal consequences. We can unknowingly live obsessively for this earthly life alone and ignore heaven.
The tempter knows very well how to make us fixated on our daily struggles and forget our transcendent destiny to be in unending glory with God. His temptations are aimed at making us lose both our peace and heavenly bearing. He slowly takes away all our hope till we feel utterly hopeless to fight temptations and attain eternal life.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the more that we give in to temptations, the more that we lose the sense of our identity as God’s beloved children, our mission from God, and our destiny with Him. But once we choose to face and overcome these temptations by the grace of God, we know deeply that we are beloved children of God, on a mission of selfless service to God, and others, and destined for eternal life with God. If we have ignored or abandoned this battle against temptations and chosen to just succumb to temptations, this Lenten season is a good time to begin again.
Amidst all the many battles facing us daily, let us refocus today and make temptations our most important and unceasing battle. Jesus will never cease giving us His Spirit of victory as He does in every Holy Mass. We can overcome temptations just as He did only if we also have deep conviction about our identity, mission, and destiny with God.
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!!!
Deuteronomy 26:4-10; | Psalms 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-; | Romans 10:8-13; | Luke 4:1-13;
Image credit: By Ivan Kramskoi – Google Cultural Center, Public Domain, Link
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About the author:
Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, is a Roman Catholic priest and religious of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary currently serving in the Philippines. He teaches theology and is a seminary formator for candidates to the priesthood and religious life. Father also gives Ignatian retreats and serves as spiritual director to many of the lay, religious, and clergy in the area.
He earned his first degree in Physics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Ordained in 2009, he studied at St. John’s seminary, in Brighton, Massachusetts. Father has an STL/MA in Moral Theology from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines.
Father Moneme blogs at https://toquenchhisthirst.wordpress.com/.
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