Temptation Has Its Benefits
We know that nothing in the affairs of man happens accidentally but always according to the will and direction of an all-wise and all-loving divine Providence. Every temptation, therefore, is for a good and useful purpose.
Temptations prove our love for God. Anyone can boast ahead of time how much we love God and how much we’re prepared to suffer for him. But when the time actually comes when we’re called upon to live up to these promises, when our fidelity and loyalty to God is molested by temptation, how do we respond? Do we pass the test ad remain loyal, or fail and betray God, sometimes even by the slightest of inclinations? Resisting is the proof of our love.
Temptations help us grow in humility. We have to work for our salvation “in fear and trembling”. There’s a danger that after long periods of success we may come to attribute it to our own strength and not to the help and grace of God. “He that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall,” says St. Paul. Temptations remind us that when left to our own strength, there is no depth of iniquity into which our passions will hurl us.
Through temptations we can atone for past sins. The steadfast refusal to yield to the desire of gratifying our passions is a most useful means of satisfying for our past sinful indulgences. We should remember past sins with grief, patiently submitting to the hardships of being tempted to repeat the forbidden pleasure they gave us. Temptation thus becomes one of those crosses that we can use to make reparation for the bad things we’ve done.
Temptations help you grow in love for God. Every resistance to temptation is equivalent to an act of divine love. The more violent our temptations and the longer they last, the more ample opportunity do they furnish us for exhibiting our love of God in the very highest degree of perfection. Pure love of God does not consist in being free from temptations, but in our refusal to yield to them.
Temptations can help increase our merit and eternal glory. St. James went so far in his Epistle to write “Brethren, count it all joy when you shall fall into diverse temptations,” and “Blessed be the man that endureth temptation.” We’re so used to seeing temptation as the pitfall to hell that we forget the opposite effect when we do not fall. St. James again: “For when a man hath been proven, he shall receive the crown of life which God hath promised to them that love him.” Whatever contributes to our greater love of God also contributes to the growth of our reward in heaven.