Being a Christian does not mean people will be exempted from sin and temptation. If anything, the Devil's lure to do wrong things will heighten even more once a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior.
A new Christian wrote to world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham and asked why his temptations are "stronger" now that he has Jesus in his life. He asked if there was anything wrong with him as his spiritual faith is being tested more than ever.
In response, Graham assured the man that nothing is wrong with him. "Just because you have given your life to Jesus doesn't mean you'll never be tempted to do wrong — because you will," he said. "In fact, we may face even stronger temptations once we give our lives to Christ — because Satan will do everything he can to discourage us and cause us to doubt our salvation."
Graham said Satan's main goal is to attack God in every way he can, and one of the strongest attacks he can think of is to discourage believers and let them waver from their faith. "If he tried to tempt Jesus, you can be sure he'll try to tempt you. But never forget: Satan is a defeated foe, and if we belong to Christ, we are on the winning side," encouraged Graham.
This was not the first time the evangelist talked about temptation. Earlier, he said that both believers and non-believers have good and bad thoughts, so Christians should not feel weighed down by the evil thoughts that run through their heads.
Even though they might feel burdened by their temptations, Graham said that Christians should feel confident about conquering these because Christ gives His followers the "strength to select the right rather than the wrong."
"It is not the temptations you have, but the decision you make about them that counts," he said.
