by Bill Perkins
A life of purity flows from your true identity as a son of God. As you grow in your understanding of that single reality, your thoughts and actions will be transformed. Slowly you’ll find yourself acting in a way that’s consistent with the new man, the good man, that God has made you.
I’m reminded of the story of a college student who carried around ten extra pounds, never played a sport, and enjoyed eating more than competing against other guys. He never thought of himself as athletic and never aspired to play sports.
One day, as he walked across campus, the track coach approached him and asked, “What’s your name?”
“Jeremiah Johnson.”
“Anybody ever tell you that you’re a runner?”
“No. Never.”
“Well, it’s true,” the coach said. “I can tell by the way you walk. How about letting me clock you this afternoon?”
“I don’t think so,” Jeremiah said.
Unwilling to take no for an answer the coach persisted until Jeremiah agreed to show up for track practice. As he entered the locker room after school he felt as out of place as a mule at a horse race. Chiding himself for agreeing to the coach’s request, he slipped on some shorts and running shoes and walked outside to the track. After stretching and jogging a few laps, the coached called him over.
As a few of the other sprinters watched, Jeremiah surprised himself, and everyone else, except the coach, by running some impressive times. The coach called him aside and said, “Hey, what did I tell you, Jeremiah? If you’ll let me work with you I think you could become one of the best runners in the country.”
“The country?” Jeremiah asked.
“You heard me,” the coach said. “You’ve got the stride and quick twitch muscles that nobody can coach. You just need to get in shape and learn how to leave the blocks.
Over the next year Jeremiah worked hard. In fact, he worked harder than he had ever worked at anything in his life. And it paid off because he won the conference championship in the 100 meters.
A week before the national meet he was at a fraternity party when the best-looking girl in the house approached him and offered Jeremiah a plate of Doritos and a cold beer. “This is for you,” she said.
In that moment he had to make a quick decision—and the decision would be based on how he viewed himself. If he saw himself as a bundle of nerves and unsatisfied appetites he’d take the beer and hope he’d get the girl too. But he didn’t see himself that way, and so he looked at the girl, smiled, and turned down her offer.
“Why? Don’t you believe in drinking?” she asked.
“Oh, that’s not why I’m saying no.”
“Then what’s the reason?”
“I’m a runner,” he said.
When a man sees himself as a runner, it’s easy to turn down a plate of Doritos and a cold beer. Why? Because runners don’t eat or drink anything that will slow them down. It’s just not who they are.
Similarly, the more you see yourself as a son of God, a new man, a good man, a man indwelt by God’s Spirit, the more you’ll think and act like a new creation. The less you’ll find yourself attracted to attitudes and actions that are inconsistent with your new identity. But as a good man, you’ll still be tempted. And now you know how to handle temptation in a way that will bring victory—one temptation at a time. If you stumble, you know how to get back up again, with the help of a friend, and move forward as a son of God.
From When Good Men Are Tempted by Bill Perkins
