24 A BRIEF PRIMER ON PRAYER But reconsider all this in the light of Jesus’ temptations. In his case, who does the devil go after: someone who is bad… or someone who is good? The answer, obviously, is someone who is good. And that is why the devil goes after you with temptations. The devil doesn’t need to waste his time tempting people who are bad—they are totally adept at finding and giving into temptations on their own. No, the devil sets his sights on people who are holy, because if he can manage to be victorious in getting them to fall, then he has a trophy to wave maliciously in the face of Jesus. The saints confirm this. Saint Ambrose († 397) says that “the devil always envies those who strive for better things.” So too Saint Hilary of Poitiers († 367): “The devil tempts those who are sanctified, for he desires above all to overcome the holy.” How to think about temptations A chief priority, then, is changing the way we think about temptations, especially in three ways. First of all, our response to temptation should be gratitude. We should be grateful when temptations come our way because their presence is a confirmation of our virtuous spiritual condition which the Evil One reckons to be a real threat. Hence his attack. Secondly, we should be deeply appreciative of the supreme help temptations lend to our spiritual life. So often in our desire to grow in holiness, we don’t have the faintest idea about where to begin. However, you can be sure that the temptations which the devil sends target that specific area of our life where we are weakest and 25 most in need of growth. Would we ever have identified that on our own without the tussle with temptation? And third, the time to worry is not when we are tempted but rather when we are NOT struggling with temptation—because that means the devil regards us as not worth going after, probably because we are doing a yeoman’s job of wrecking our relationship with God on our own. The connection between temptations and sanctification How is it that we even know about Jesus’ temptations? The only answer that makes sense is that Jesus himself told his disciples about them. And he did so deliberately to exemplify how crucial temptations are for growing in the love of the Father. Jesus did not leave that desert the same way he entered it. He emerged with an even more intensive love for his Father… with a more profound certainty and conviction to do the Father’s will and to live his mission with freedom set on fire. Through his temptations he learned obedience from what he suffered (Heb 5:8). Jesus models for us that temptations are a crucial part of sanctification. The experience of temptation is a kind of school in holiness. The reason why God allows temptations to happen in our life is to teach us just howuntrustingwe are of him. What would you say is the human being’s greatest temptation? Don’t say cheesecake. It’s the temptation to think we are autonomous: that we are the makers of our own destiny… that we can do everything on our own… that the most successful people are the most self-reliant. The 5. Here’s the proof you’re truly trusting God
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