Common to Humanity

Do you ever feel exhausted by fighting temptation? Does it loom large in your life as a big, ugly, powerful foe? Let's reframe how we think about it and have victory.

Common to Humanity

This week's devotions are written by my son, Bryant Forshee, Lead Student Pastor for Cross Church, Springdale, AR campus.

- Pastor Danny

"No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it."

(1 Corinthians 10:13, CSB)

What do you think of when you hear "common" or "common things"?

When I hear "common", here is what comes to my mind: normal, everyday, unspectacular, ordinary.

When I hear "common things", here is what comes to mind: breathing, driving, work, pencils, paper.

Nowhere in either of these lists, would I have put temptation, but according to 1 Corinthians 10:13, that is exactly what temptation is: common.

If you are like me, you have probably heard 1 Corinthians 10:13 many times growing up in church, and rightfully so, because it is a POWERFUL verse! This verse speaks of how God is FAITHFUL, how He is in control of everything, and how He will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able to withstand, and it even mentions that God will provide the way of escape whenever we are tempted. This verse also calls temptation "common to humanity", and this is something that I had NEVER thought of until a few days ago when I read it as part of my reading plan. When I read this verse and recognized that all temptation is common to humanity, I then began to ask myself the question, "Do I view temptation to sin as common to humanity or instead as something bigger than it needs to be?"

For me personally, I realized that I had begun to place a large emphasis on temptation in my life. I did not view my temptations as common to humanity but uncommon and targeted specifically at me. I began to think that temptation was the big bad villain instead of a common obstacle to humanity that we overcome with the Lord's help. Now, don't get me wrong, we are supposed to deal with sin in our life with repentance and take sin seriously, because Jesus died for those sins. What I am saying is that I needed a proper perspective of temptation from 1 Corinthians 10 to realize that it is common to humanity and nothing outrageous, uncommon, or undefeatable.

I needed to realize that temptation is common in order to focus my attention not on the temptation and its ugliness but on the absolutely UNcommon God who is with me in the moments of temptation! Nothing that temptation can throw at me can mitigate or minimize the faithfulness and strength of God! Nothing that temptation can pretend to be can overshadow the all-sufficient God who loves me, gave His Son for me, and who is with me every second of every day. I realized that I needed to minimize temptation and maximize Christ.

What about you? How has this well-known verse come alive in a different way to you today? How are you going to look at temptation differently now that you know that it really is common to humanity and not this big, ugly, unbeatable foe?

Let 1 Corinthians 10:13 encourage, strengthen, and embolden you to overcome the common temptations that come your way and rely on the Faithful, uncommon God who is with you and has provided the way of escape for you.