EXAMPLE | Kids Who Met God

Temptation

“After Jesus was baptized, The Lord sent Him into the desert to fast and get closer to Him, so He didn’t depend on the world. The devil himself met Jesus in the wilderness. He pointed to a stone and said, ‘If you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus quoted a verse from the Old Testament that says, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ The devil then took Him to the holy city. He had Jesus stand on the highest point of the temple and told Him to jump off. ‘For it is written,’ said the devil, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ After that, the devil took Him to a high mountain. The devil showed Him all the Kingdoms in the world and their splendor. ‘I will give this all to you,’ he said, ‘if you bow down and worship me.’ ‘Away from me, Satan!’ shouted Jesus, ‘For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God only.’ Then the devil left him, and angels came to attend him.”
(Matthew 4:1-11)

Jesus was tempted. I think this story is in the Bible because we should get through temptation just like Jesus did. The devil tempts me too. Sometimes he tries to distract me from God. Maybe he distracts me from my devotionals or from praying. Maybe it’s playing video games or going out with my friends instead of getting close with God.

Another way kids can fall into temptation is trying to be cool. Some kids only care about what the people at school or around their neighborhood think of them, not what God thinks of them. Sometimes when you want to be cool you do bad things. There are many other ways Satan tempts us too. One more way we get tempted is letting our anger out on someone. Perhaps we hurt them or say something offensive to them.

But we can resist temptation just like Jesus did. When the devil is tempting you to do something, a familiar Bible verse may pop into your head, and you will remember not to fall into the temptation. This is one reason it is good to learn memory verses. Another way of avoiding temptation is having a right perspective of God. What that means is thinking of God as powerful to handle different situations. For example: if your friends tell you to do something bad like cheat on a test, you might think, “My friends will think I’m cool if I do this so I’m going to do it,” or “My friends might think I’m a little cooler if I do this, but god will give me strength to do the right thing.” Go to God for help. He will be there.

By: Dylan (United States)