The Wheels of Justification Go Round and Round

It's amazing to me how often we find ourselves giving in to temptations that we would have never imagined ourselves giving in to. I'm sure we all know someone that after doing this or saying that has found themselves in a situation they would have never thought possible. Maybe it's just me but I find it scary how easy it is to justify just about anything to myself. I wouldn't say that I am a masterful debater by any means but when it comes to convincing myself of why I should or shouldn't do something, I can make a strong case.

I'm finding that how I deal with temptation and the justification process that starts to take place in my puny little brain go hand-in-hand. I start telling myself things like: "I need this", "I like this", "I will gain something from this", "I've earned this", "I am the only one that will be impacted by this," and so on and so on.

I am guessing we all face different temptations on a daily basis, I know I do and ya know, sometimes I win and sometimes the temptation wins. The difference between who or what wins I've realized has to do with my focus. Obviously as someone who is trying to be like Jesus, my focus must first be on Christ and then on everyone else and when I find that I am out of focus, I become much more susceptible to giving in to temptation, even temptations that seem like they would never be a temptation for me. It's a slippery-slope when our focus becomes all about "me", its then that we find ourselves looking up from the bottom of the ditch wondering how we got there.