8.13.2026 - Jody Duncan

August 13, 2026

1 Corinthians 10:13

God gives us his faithfulness.

In this 10th chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul warns the church against the mistakes made by the Hebrews during the time of the Exodus. Despite having witnessed God’s many miracles – the escape from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the deliverance of manna – the Hebrews complain and turn toward idolatry and sexual immorality. Paul warns the Corinthian church that they are not free of such temptations to sin, despite their new spiritual standing with Christ.

It is striking that Paul does not offer this warning with a big helping of shame. He, in fact, offers it with words of understanding – that is, that temptation is common to ALL of us. No single human being is alone in being sinful. He is merely a part of humanity, and sinfulness is the natural state of humanity.

These are comforting words because the tendency of people is to believe the best of everyone else, but the worst of ourselves. When dealing with other people, after all, we are interacting with the outer ‘face’ they present. In public, especially, most people tend to be warm and kind and understanding, no matter their inner state of being. As a result, we think of that person as being kind and warm and understanding.

When confronting ourselves, however, we don’t have the luxury of considering only our outer presentation and judging ourselves based on

that ‘face.’ We KNOW every petty and unkind thought we’ve ever had. We know who we are, deep down, and while we may not be monsters – most of us are not – nor are we without sin.

In this verse, Paul assures the Corinthians that we are all guilty, all susceptible to being overtaken by temptation. He also reminds them that God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to resist.

This reminds me of something we often hear or perhaps say when talking to someone who has suffered loss: “God will never give you more of a burden than you can bear.” The words are well-intentioned and meant to be comforting, but I wonder if they are truly helpful, especially in the initial stages of grief. A mourner may think: ‘Great – I CAN bear it; but I don’t WANT to bear it, and I don’t understand why I’m being forced to bear it.’

Though the concept that God gives us the strength to handle any burden may not be helpful during the most intense periods of grief, it is an uplifting idea to consider when it comes to resisting temptation. We so often feel weak, and utterly incapable of standing strong against temptation. How wonderful to think that God himself has given us the strength to do so! It is, of course, a cornerstone of the Alcoholics Anonymous program to realize we cannot recover through our own efforts alone and must surrender to a higher power.

God has given us an ‘escape route’ out of sin and temptation through the strength of the Holy Spirit and our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus modeled strength against temptation when he was in the wilderness. He offers it to us, as well.

Today, let us be grateful to God for being faithful, and for empowering us to resist temptation.