7-day plan: Temptation
How sin begins, how Jesus faced temptation, and how to get free of it.
One passage a day, with a question to think it over. Your progress stays on this device, no account needed.
Day 1 · How sin begins
The serpent sows doubt, and the woman sees the fruit is “a delight to the eyes”
Now the serpent was more shrewd than any animal of the field that YHWH Elohim had made. And it said to the woman, “Did Elohim really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden Elohim has said, ‘You shall not eat from it, and you shall not touch it, or you will die.’” And the serpent said to the woman, “You will certainly not die; for Elohim knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.” And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable for gaining insight; and she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:1–6 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
When you fail, how can you come near to Elohim instead of hiding, as the man did (v. 8)?
Day 2 · Jesus was tempted
Hungry in the wilderness, Jesus answers the tempter with Scripture
Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tested by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry. And the one testing him came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘A person will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out through the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:1–4 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
Jesus called fishermen to follow him (v. 19). What everyday work could you do with more attention to God?
Day 3 · A way out
God is faithful: he won't allow more than you can bear, and provides the way out
No temptation has seized you except a human one; and God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way out, so as to be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
What situation in your life does this passage speak to?
Day 4 · The struggle inside
Paul describes the inner war: he wants the good and does what he hates
For what I do I do not understand; for what I want, this I do not practice, but what I hate, this I do. But if what I do not want, this I do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wanting is present with me, but the doing of the good is not. For I do not do the good that I want, but the evil that I do not want, this I practice. But if what I do not want, this I do, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. So I find this law: that, when I want to do the good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man, but I see another law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and taking me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Wretched man that I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus the Messiah our Lord. So then, I myself with the mind serve as a slave to the law of God, but with the flesh, to the law of sin.
Romans 7:15–25 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
Paul admits his inner struggle without hiding it. To whom could you confidently tell a struggle of your own?
Day 5 · Free from sin
Jesus: if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:34–36 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
The accusers left one by one when Jesus spoke about sin (v. 9). When is it your turn to look at yourself before pointing at others?
Day 6 · How sin begins
God asks, and each one points to someone else: nobody wants to own what was done
And he said, “Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” And the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” And YHWH Elohim said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:11–13 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
When you fail, how can you come near to Elohim instead of hiding, as the man did (v. 8)?
Day 7 · Jesus was tempted
The devil quotes Scripture too; Jesus will not put God to the test
Then the devil takes him into the holy city and stood him on the pinnacle of the temple, and says to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will lift you up, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”
Matthew 4:5–7 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
Jesus called fishermen to follow him (v. 19). What everyday work could you do with more attention to God?