Bấy giờ Ðức Giêsu được Thần Khí dẫn vào hoang địa để chịu quỷ cám dỗ. Người ăn chay ròng rã bốn mươi đêm ngày.
Then Jesus was lead by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights.
Have you ever thought of “borrowing” homework from your friend?
Have you ever been tempted to look over your friend’s shoulder during a test?
In our lives, whether at home, at school or at church, we often face a lot of temptations to seek for our own good. Sometimes we are tempted to copying test answers, other times we are tempted to take a cookie from a jar without asking for permission.
One of God’s greatest gifts to us is our free will. That is the ability to think things over and know the difference between right and wrong. Sometimes it is very easy to know what is right and what is wrong.
As human beings, even when we know what is wrong, we are tempted to do it because it feels good. It is very easy to do bad because our friends and a lot of people do it.
When we allow our temptation to win us over, we sin. Sin is allowing your temptation to take control of yourself and choosing to do wrong. It is turning away and refusing God’s Love.
When we let our temptation take us over, we choose to live without God.
Our first parents, Adam and Eva, were tempted by the devil to eat the forbidden fruit. Due to not obeying God’s command, they lost eternal life. This is an example of what happens when you cannot overcome temptation.
Joseph Tran loves his grandmother so much. He wants to give her a very nice present on her 90th birthday. But he doesn’t have a lot of money. A thought runs through his mind, “Ah, I saw a 20 dollars bill in the drawer. I will just take it and no one will know.” So he went over to the drawer and took the 20 dollars bill Lisa Nguyen has a lot of trouble with math. She got very low grades in her last math test. She wants to get a better grade in her next test. Lisa has learned in Thiếu Nhi that cheating is not right. So, she asks her friend, Tony, to tutor her after school. After Tony’s tutoring and her hard work, Lisa received a grade 80 in her next math test. Even though she did not get an A, Lisa is very happy because she learned that she can do it if she puts her heart into her study instead of cheating in the test.
Have you noticed that it gets harder and harder to avoid temptations as you get a little bit older? It is even harder when you have a lot of friends who think that it is okay to do bad things such as stealing, cheating, and lying.
When Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness, the devil tried to tempt him but Jesus firmly replied: “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”
Even Saint Paul wrote about temptation in his letter to the Roman community. “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.”
To win over our temptation is not very easy. However, we can follow Jesus’ examples when he was tempted by the devil. He prayed with his Father for the strength to endure and win over temptation. Each morning before you get out of bed and go to school, ask God to give you strength to fight against all the bad things you will ee and not to follow the bad examples of others.
We can also follow the guidance of the Catholic Church and seek good advice from your parents, Huynh Truongs, and Church leaders such as the priest or sister at your parish.
Most importantly, many of our temptations begin when we hang out with our “not so good” friends. To win over our temptation, we need to find a group of friends who have a same common understanding of our Christian values such as Thieu Nhi Thanh The.
Trong cuộc đời, ta luôn phải chiến đấu với nhiều thử thách của cám dỗ. Để vượt qua những sự cám dỗ đó, chúng ta hãy năng cầu nguyện và xin Chúa luôn giúp đỡ cho chúng ta.
In our life, we always have to battle with temptations. Sometimes, the temptations are stronger than our will. The only way to win over our temptations is through prayers. In prayer, we ask God for strength and guidance so that we can over come the urge to commit sin against God.
Dear Jesus, I place my faith in You. Please help me not to lead a sinful life. Please grant me the strength to overcome temptations by believing in You and understanding that nothing good will come from Satan or his false promises. You are the only source of true and everlasting life. Amen.
Lậy Chúa Giêsu! Con đặt hết niềm tin nơi Ngài. Xin giúp con tránh xa cuộc sống tội lỗi. Xin ban sức mạnh để con chống trả cám dỗ bằng cách tin tưởng nơi Ngài và hiểu rằng không gì tốt sẽ đến từ Satan hoặc những lời hứa giả dối của nó. Chỉ có Chúa là nguồn sống đích thực đời đời. Amen