Growing up, my mom loved to bake. Often on Sundays, she would make cookies for myself and my brother to take to school that week. Each Sunday, she would normally begin making them around 2:30 in the afternoon, and the first batch would be done around an hour later. On Sundays, my family didn’t usually start eating dinner until around 5:30 or 6 p.m.

So there I was, wanting to eat this delicious, enticing cookie. However, as many parents can attest to, my mom didn't want me to spoil my dinner.

Now, as a 6-year-old foolish boy, my mind was set solely on satisfying my current desire for food and sugar. I wasn't thinking about how if I ate this cookie, I was going to spoil my dinner. However, my mother, being wise, understood that if I ate this cookie now, I was going to spoil my dinner.

She could see the whole picture while I couldn't. All I saw and all I was thinking about was fulfilling the need for something in the moment, and not worrying about the future consequences of my actions.

Have you ever been there? Wanting something so bad in the moment, but knowing it was wrong? I know I have. I feel like sometimes my entire life is a constant cycle of being in that kitchen. Temptation is all around us.

I remember being a 6-year-old kid and after my mom told me not to eat that cookie, I sat in the kitchen and looked at the cookie jar.

Let’s be honest.

If I sat in that kitchen and stared at the jar and just kept saying to myself, “I’m not going to eat it, I’m not going to eat it,” chances are I would probably end up eating the cookie, right?

Why?

Because I put myself in an environment that would increase my chances of falling into disobeying my mom and eating the cookie. The wiser option would be to leave the kitchen, go upstairs and read about how terrible cookies and sugar are for your health! No, I'm not saying that you shouldn’t enjoy sugary things at all, but I probably shouldn’t eat them before dinner and spoil my appetite. I should be able to enjoy them after dinner within their proper context.

So what’s my point?

The truth is there are things that seem very enticing to us in this world. Everywhere we look, there are temptations. Drugs, alcohol and sex are the three most commonly talked about. Why? Why are these things so enticing and addicting?

When we consider the satisfaction that comes from them, I think we will find our answer. Just like the cookie, drugs, alcohol and sex provide us with an immediate satisfaction. In the moment, we see how incredibly enticing that temptation looks and all we can think about is how amazing it will be if we do it.

This can be anything. It doesn’t just have to be the things I’ve mentioned above.

But consider, if you will, my knowledge of wanting the cookie, compared to my mom’s knowledge of not wanting me to spoil my dinner. She was wiser and saw the bigger picture.

The same principle applies to us and God. There are so many things that, in the moment, seem OK to do, and yet God tells not to do them.

I’m not sure how others have handled these times, but I know for myself, it feels like an ultimate war going on inside me. Two natures fighting against each other, and often the old nature would win, and sometimes, it still does.

But then I began to realize that I wasn’t going to win this war on my own. God began to show me I needed to get out of the environments I was putting myself in, that were leading me into sin. At first, I felt like God was robbing me of satisfaction; just like I felt when was 6 years old and my mom said I couldn’t have the cookie.

But looking back, I now realize that my mom wasn’t trying to rob me of satisfaction, and neither is God. My mom was actually trying to help me gain the most satisfaction possible. She wanted me to eat healthy and grow up to be strong. But she still made the cookies! Why? Because they were enjoyable to have after dinner in their proper context.

God made things on this earth that have unfortunately been used outside of their proper context, because of sin. It happens. But God still desires us to enjoy things like food, drink and sex within their proper context. When God tells us not to do something, He isn't trying to rob us of satisfaction! Rather, He's trying to warn us and guard our hearts to grow the best way possible.

So I leave you with this. Consider the sins that you struggle with. Consider what environment increases your possibility to fall into those sins, and get yourself out of that environment. I know it will be hard, and you may consider not wanting to leave the environment that causes you to stumble, but ask yourself this question.

“Is the environment I don’t want to give up worth the pain that this sin is causing me?”

I'm not saying you have to leave the environment forever, but maybe for a little while, it will be good for you to leave that place, find your Bible and just begin to talk to God. As Christians, we do this not to earn favor, but to simply grow closer to our wonderful Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ.