“And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.”
The Battle
This verse names direct, active temptation aimed specifically at Joseph, worth holding as honest acknowledgment that temptation is not always something you yourself initiate, but sometimes, genuinely, something actively directed toward you, worth recognizing this same dynamic if it has honestly characterized your own experience.
This is worth examining against whatever shame has made you feel that being genuinely tempted, even when not initiated by you, reflects some failure on your own part, rather than this verse’s own honest naming, temptation actively, genuinely directed at Joseph, through no initiating fault of his own.
Notice the actual response this whole story’s following verses describe, Joseph’s own direct refusal and eventual fleeing, worth holding as this whole book’s needed model, being genuinely tempted does not itself constitute failure, the actual response to that temptation is what genuinely, actually matters.
Whatever temptation is currently, actively directed at you, through no initiating fault of your own, receive today this distinction this story models directly, being tempted is not itself failure, and consider what your own actual, deliberate response might need to look like, following Joseph’s own eventual example.
Walk in the Spirit
- Release any shame for being genuinely tempted, when this temptation was not something you initiated.
- Distinguish clearly today between being tempted and actually yielding to it.
- Consider what your own deliberate, actual response to current temptation needs to actually look like.
Prayer
Lord, like Joseph, I may be genuinely tempted through no fault of my own initiating. Let me release shame for this, and focus instead on my own actual, deliberate response. Amen.
Carry this today
Being genuinely tempted is not itself failure. The actual response is what matters.