Ask Fred > Ethics > Are older people tempted?

Select a Category:

Dear Fred

After preaching one Sunday, an elderly Christian lady said to me, "I don't know why we old church members say "Do not lead me into temptation" when we say the Lord's Prayer. We are to old to be tempted. What would you say are the ways that older Christian people are tempted?

Fred's Response

Many of our strongest temptations come in the mind and not the body. Older Christians must avoid sinful fantasies. We have a natural tendency when we get older to cut ourselves some slack in mental play. Oftentimes in the later days we neglect the spiritual as the scripture says “when we have no pleasure in them.” Prayer can weaken with the body. Age does not automatically strengthen the spiritual relationship. It must remain a severe discipline. There is a temptation to let your attitude become negative as you age. Many times we lose our gratitude for what we have in thinking about what we don’t have. I think senility would immunize us from the vitality of old age temptations. But while we are still “with it” we can still ask the Lord to “lead us not into temptation.”