“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means–the only complete realist.” - C.S. Lewis

I have had this quote glued into my scriptures since Seminary and whenever I come across the page it is glued in I can't help but read it. I've always heard people say and have been told that "Utah Mormons" are sheltered. Well in one sense maybe...but I love C.S. Lewis' thoughts that those who have been bad "have lived a sheltered life by always giving in". It is those of us who fight against an army, walk against the wind, it is those of us who don't give in after 5 minutes of temptation, who truly know what temptation means.

Because Christ lived a perfect life I don't think we always realize how much He understands of what we go through when it comes to being tempted. He was tempted constantly. I am sure Satan worked harder on Him then on anyone who has ever walked the face of the Earth. Just as C.S. Lewis so perfectly stated, "Christ...is..the only man who knows to the full what tempation means..."

I hope that we can always remember that Christ is there for us in all things and that He understands all things. Not only can the Savior help us once we have already sinned and fallen into temptation but he can so perfectly, sympathetically, and understandingly guide us when we are in the midst of temptation because He knows all to well what it is like to stand where we stand in times when Satan is near.

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