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A Special Temptation

             And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? (Genesis 3:11)

          There is a special sort of temptation that needs a discussion of its own. Some may not consider accusations to be temptations but suppose I were to announce that I had seen you shoot Abraham Lincoln. Would the accusation carry weight or be the source of levity? I suspect it would be the source of levity because neither of us was alive at the time, so there’s no real way you could be guilty or that I could have seen you and nobody is likely to believe the accusation because of that. The only way an accusation holds any weight is if someone can be tempted to believe it.

          Similarly, if I were to accuse you of having eaten a piece of celery yesterday, or of having done something for which you’d been forgiven by the person you offended, you might well shrug those accusations off, too. They may be true. They may have mattered at one time, but if they ever mattered, they don’t anymore.

          But if you’re like me, you hear accusations as an undercurrent in all your thoughts. You did this, you didn’t do that, you’re too one thing and not enough of another. You’re a Loser.  You’re a cheat. You’re a liar. You’re too proud. You’re fat. You’re too skinny. You’re ugly. You’re vain. You’re stupid. You’re a f.a.i.l.u.r.e.  You’re whatever they want to call the person who is of your abominable beliefs and behaviors. You’re a positive embarrassment to God and everyone who matters to you.

          When do these accusations matter? When we give in to the temptation to believe them or when someone else gives in to that temptation. Matters are made both worse and better when the accusations are true. If you are a liar and you’re accused of lying, you can do something about it. You can learn to tell the truth. But you may also take on the identity of “Liar” and make matters worse.

          The evil of accusation is, at its heart, the temptation to see yourself as the accuser presents you instead of the way God sees you. You then stand before yourself and God, hang your head and say, “I’m naked,” without stopping to consider who it is that told you so.

 

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