Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
James 1:12
I don’t suppose you think often about the positive side of sexual temptation. For example, when you are in the midst of a struggle with lust, or when you are battling against the temptation to look at porn or to masturbate, I don’t imagine that you think about any rewards that could possibly come with those struggles. I know that I never did.
But the Apostle James tells us that there is a blessing attached to temptation. There is good that comes out of sexual temptation. That blessing comes directly from the hand of God. The man who is tempted sexually will receive a blessing from God. He will receive the crown of life. There’s just one condition.
Endurance.
The man who receives the divine blessing is the man who perseveres through the temptation. The man whom God blesses is the man who undergoes the temptation and doesn’t give in. You aren’t blessed just because you are sexually tempted. You are blessed because you endure sexual temptation. You aren’t blessed when you are tempted to sin. You are blessed when you endure that temptation, and don’t sin.
This means there’s a payoff, a reward, for staying sexually pure. There’s a divine reward waiting for you when you go though sexual temptations and don’t give in. When you refuse to take the second look, when you decline to gape at the immodest woman, when you refuse to visit that pornographic site, when you prevail against the urge to take sexual satisfaction into your own hands, as it were, God stands by ready to bless you with the crown of life.
God has a crown prepared for you. It’s in your size. If you endure.
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