"One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." - Mt. 4:4

temp·ta·tion
noun\tem(p)-ˈtā-shən\
: a strong urge or desire to have or do something
: something that causes a strong urge or desire to have or do something and especially something that is bad, wrong, or unwise
(Definition taken from Mirriam-Webster Dictionary)

Temptation comes and goes in a cornucopia of varied situations. It may come blatantly or in the subtlest way. All of us experience temptation. Even Jesus, in all his perfection, experienced temptation. The devil in the desert kept on urging Jesus to use divine intervention to end his fasting and suffering. He kept on taunting Jesus to test the strength of His power. While Jesus could have just easily whipped out His powers superhero-style (to infinity and beyond) to end all of that, He chose God over temptation and finished His fast.
At the height of all our busy schedules, the subtlest but most effective temptation would be to give in to the temptation of negativity. Giving in to this particular temptation is too easy, we don’t even think about it anymore. There is so much to complain about. The weather? “Ugh, the heat is blistering outside.” School? “Oh my, so much homework to be done.” Work? “My boss is a raging psychopath who’s out to get me.”
The gospel of the temptation reminds us that Jesus resisted temptation. Jesus, in all His glory could have easily displayed His might but He chose to honor His Father by not giving in. He shows us that we could do the same. In temptation, there is no sin. Sin is achieved by the act of giving in. Temptation will never leave our side. It is constant and consistent. The fight is real. We have the choice. Instead of complaining about the most mundane things, we need to realize that while we complain about school, more than half the kids aging 7-15 years old don’t have the means to an education. When we complain about the weather, people in Tacloban are still trying to rebuild their homes ravaged by a typhoon. While we complain about work, people are lining up in the blistering heat just to get a job.

There will always be two sides of a coin. There will always be choices. God gave us the freedom to choose, let us choose to resist temptation just like Jesus did, and let us choose Him. Let us choose to look past minor discomforts and see the bigger picture that is God’s love for us. J 

-Oyen del Fierro


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