In the last article we spoke about our attachment to sin. We saw that one of the major reasons that we are not able to overcome the sins in our lives, is because we are in love with these sins and we actually don’t want to overcome them.

“Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” [James 1:14]

However, we often don’t know what exactly it is, that we are attracted to. We can’t say that “this is exactly what I am lured and enticed by”. Sometimes, we are also misled to think that “this is exactly what I am lured and enticed by”, when it is actually something else.

What is it that we are attracted to? What exactly is it that our desire is for? What is it that we are lured and enticed by?

A Rough List Of Temptations We Often Face

As a starting point, in order to gain some context, let us consider a few examples of the many ways in which we are tempted:

1. We are tempted to lust after women
2. We are tempted to push others down so that we can exalt ourselves
3. We are tempted to do whatever it takes to make money, whether the means are good or bad.
4. We are tempted to tell lies.
5. We are tempted to boast.
6. We are tempted to jealousy.
7. We are tempted to gossip.
8. We are tempted to lie about others – to bear false witness against our neighbor.
9. We are tempted to cheat and steal.
10. We are tempted to defraud, swindle and cheat others, so that we benefit, even if they are disadvantaged.
11. We are tempted to make use of the vulnerability of others.
12. We are tempted to do many things so that others may praise us.
13. We are tempted to decide everything for ourselves and reject all authority. “Nobody tells me what to do. I do what I want to do”.
14. We are tempted to act as though we have all the answers, that we know everything even when we don’t.
15. We are tempted to want others to worship us.
16. We are tempted to want to make others depend on us.
17. We are tempted to toy with and to manipulate others.
18. We are tempted by the things that others have which we don’t have.
19. We are tempted to desire the spouses of others.
20. We are tempted to fornication and adultery.
21. We are tempted to desire revenge.
22. We are tempted to eliminate others who we perceive as inconvenient or as an obstacle to us.
23. We are tempted to use the name of God in vain.
24. We are tempted to worship celebrities.
25. We are tempted to drive fast and recklessly for the fun of it, even when we endanger our lives and the lives of others.
26. We are tempted to worship other people, things or positions [social status] in our hearts. Etc.

The above list is quite a bit. And we are only just getting started. There are many examples of temptation which we have not even mentioned.

When we think about this with a serious intention to overcome the sin in our life, the list of temptations can seem overwhelming and it can seem useless to even try to overcome temptation. It can seem like an impossible task. When faced with this seemingly impossible task, rather than fight temptation, we often try to rationalize our sins.

However, this way of thinking leads to a way of behaving which is not helpful to us. Repeated compromise with sin forms us as persons who will ultimately rebel against God. We slowly and gradually rebel more and more against God as the range of our sin increases and as we become more and more hardened in our sins through repetition. If we rationalize our sins we will ultimately become people who don’t want to enter heaven.

Let us not go down this root. There is hope. Let us look for a better way.

Differentiating Between Temptation And Sin

Rather than give in to temptation, rationalize our sins and slowly corrupt ourselves, we can try to better understand temptation, so that we are better equipped to resist and fight it.

But where should we look to better understand temptation?

We will not start with the Ten Commandments [Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21] or the 7 deadly sins [lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride], in order to understand the many forms of temptation.

We will not start with the above, because:

1. The Ten Commandments and the seven deadly sins refer to sin and not to temptation.

I think it is very important to also think about temptation, rather than only thinking about sin, because of two reasons:

1. Dealing with temptations gets to the real reasons of why we sin. Addressing the real reasons for sin helps us to overcome the sin. If we ignore the real reasons for our sin, and try to overcome sin, we will not be successful. This is because, trying to overcome sin while ignoring temptation, is a bit like cutting a plant and leaving the root intact. The plant will grow again from the root that remains behind.

2. The number of sins are many, but the number of temptations are few. Therefore, dealing with temptations – rather than focusing only on sin – seems to me to be the easier way to overcome sin. Because we commit many sins due to the same temptation, if we are able to overcome a form of temptation, we will have overcome all the associated sins.

The Temptation of Eve

In order to understand the types of temptation, we should go to the first temptation and the first human sin – to the Garden of Eden, to Adam, Eve and the serpent.

Let us read from Genesis:

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”” [Genesis 2:16-17]

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” [Genesis 3:1-7]

Let us look at the reasons Eve disobeyed God. It says:

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate” [Genesis 3:6]

The three aspects underlined in the verse above refer to the three fundamental types of temptation.

They have been the three fundamental types of temptation from the time of the first sin, throughout all history and until our present time. They are as valid for us now, as they were at the time of the first temptation of man.

The types of temptation are unchanging, because human nature is unchanging. We have a particular nature. Temptation is based on this nature.

The Three Forms Of Temptation – Finding The Right Words To Better Understand Them

However, it may be a bit difficult to match our day to day experience of temptation with the language of Genesis, in order to help us to understand the temptations we face, in light of the temptation of Eve. This is because the language of Genesis describes a particular example [or manifestation] of the three forms of temptation, but does not directly name the three forms of temptation [the three aspects of concupiscence].

How do we bridge this gap?

Saint John directly names the three forms of temptation. This gives us the right words to help us understand the temptations we face in our daily lives.

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world” [1 John 2:16].

Let us briefly look at each of them.

1. The lust of the flesh: The lust of the flesh refers to the desire to give pleasure [or comfort] to our flesh. Man is a composite of body and spirit, and the lust of the flesh refers to the desire to please [give pleasure to] our body [our flesh]. Although often misunderstood, it is not limited to the area of sexuality, but extends to all temptations which seek the pleasure of the human body. Thus, the lust of the flesh includes the various forms of hedonism, substance abuse etc. The lust of the flesh corresponds to the experience of Eve that the fruit was “good for food”.

2. The lust of the eyes: The lust of the eyes refers to the desire to give pleasure to our eyes. In contrast to the lust of the flesh and the pride of life [which appeal to the bodily and spiritual nature of man], the lust of the eyes refers to the desire to possess the things that lie outside of us [contemplation of that which is a delight to our eyes, is soon followed by a desire to possess those things]. It includes the desire to possess material things [which lie outside of us], which we perceive through our eyes. The lust of the eyes corresponds to the experience of Eve that the fruit was “a delight to the eyes”.

3. The pride of life: The pride of life refers to the desire to indulge our pride; to inflate our ego. Man is a composite of body and spirit, and the pride of life is ordered towards man’s spirit. When indulging the impulse to pride, man strives to exalt himself above his fellow human beings [as opposed to loving them] and even strives to exalt himself above God. He strives to be the centre of all things and the judge of all things [“You will be like God, knowing good and evil” – Genesis 3:5]. He declares his independence of God. He strives to be God unto himself and over others. The pride of life corresponds to the thinking of Eve that the fruit was “to be desired to make one wise”.

These are the three forms of temptation from which all sin follows. These are the things which keep us from loving God, from loving our brothers and sisters, from being formed in the likeness of God, from the eternal life to which we are called.

“Human nature … is … inclined to sin – an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence” [Catechism of the Catholic Church 405].

“St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life” [Catechism of the Catholic Church 2514].

“The triple concupiscence… subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses, covetousness for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of reason” [Catechism of the Catholic Church 377].

Understanding this is not a one-time exercise, where we read of it, perhaps think it is interesting and then let it go. This is something which needs to stay with us permanently and the awareness and understanding of which needs to grow in us.

This is so, because it is crucial to understanding temptation and sin in our life.

Without understanding the nature of temptation that we are supposed to fight against and overcome, is it really possible to triumph over it?

Concluding Thoughts

If you are not familiar with the three forms of temptation, as a first exercise, perhaps look at the list of temptations we outlined at the beginning of this article and see which aspect of concupiscence they appeal to.

Then, starting with the next time you are tempted; try to discern what exactly you are being tempted by – are you being tempted to indulge the craving of your body, the craving of your eyes or your pride.

Or are you being tempted in a way that appeals to more than one [or maybe all three] of the above aspects [like Eve was tempted in the garden of Eden].

Then you will start to see that temptation is not a big, powerful tyrant that cannot be overcome. You will start to see that temptation is rather a weak, pathetic and deceiving voice. It can only encourage you to indulge yourself – the craving of your body, the craving of your eyes and your pride.

You will start to see that what tempts you is not so much anything external to you, but that which is inside you. What is external to you is only a means to satisfy that which is internal to you – your desire for pleasure and pride.

You will start to see that in order to overcome temptation, it is not an external tyrant or external stimuli [or anything external to you] that you need to overcome, but rather your own internal selfish impulses and pride. You have to overcome yourself.

You will start to see that in order to overcome temptation, you don’t need to overcome one hundred different aspects of yourself; you only need to overcome three selfish impulses.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world….For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever” [1 John 2:15-17].

I hope this helps you to understand temptation much better and encourages you to resist and fight against it.

If so, take courage and fight temptation with the help of God’s grace. Fight temptation with the grace of the crucified Christ [whose body was tortured; who gave up all that He had – not even holding on to the clothes which covered His body; and who humbled Himself and was mocked, abandoned, stripped naked, humiliated and spat upon] who has overcome temptation and who lives in you.

“Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” [1 Timothy 6:12]

A Prayer For Help Against Sinning