The Top 5 temptations for Senior Adults

Titus 2:1-5 - As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects
wholesome teaching. 2 Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be
worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled
with love and patience.
3
Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must
not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what
is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their
husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their
homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not
bring shame on the word of God.

#5 – According to a recent informal, unscientific poll, the fifth most common

temptation that seniors wrestle with is Spiritual Retirement, and I agree that
spiritual retirement is a big problem. By spiritual retirement, I mean the
temptation to back off from church involvement and spiritual responsibilities
when we get retirement age.

In midlife we often experience an overload of activity. There's a lot of pressure

at work, tension at home, and demanding duties at church. People get nearly
burned out. They look forward to retirement when they can slow down and
relax. Some Christians think, "I'll back off my weekly responsibilities at church
that tie me down so I can travel and have a lot of free time."

In their mind they think, "I'll do some spontaneous volunteer work as I have
the time but I just don't want to be tied down to regular duties." But the
problem is that as they drift away from involvement, pretty soon they don't
feel as much a part of the church and their relationship with God often wanes.

The Bible tells us that Eli, the High Priest, got complacent in his old age. He
turned over his priestly duties to his irresponsible sons and tolerated it when
they exploited the women who came to worship and stole meat from the
people's sacrifices. God eventually told Eli, "Because you have honored your
sons more than me by failing to restrain them, and because you have
fattened yourself by eating their stolen meat, I am cutting short the influence
of your family and you will die in disgrace." There is a temptation, like Eli, to
become self-indulgent and spiritually passive when you become a senior. But
many people are just hitting their stride by age 55. Look at Paul McCartney,
and other musical artists from the early 60s who are in their 70s today and
still touring and making music. Led Zeppelin, The Who, Rod Stewart, Mick
Jagger and the Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel,
Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, and the list goes on,
There does come a time in life to redirect energies. I'm not saying you should
do the same thing in church at age 70 that you did at age 25.
But don't quit your church commitments just because you're older. Continue
to be active. You can use the additional time for service for Christ instead of
self-indulgence. The Bible says, "Be faithful to the point of death and I will
give you a crown of life." (Rev. 2:10)

#4 - The seniors listed Inflexibility as the fourth greatest temptation. No

generation in history has experienced as many dramatic changes as ours, the
baby boomers (some of you are from the previous Generation – the Greatest
Generation). Think of the technology changes we've witnessed. Airplanes,
televisions, computers, cell phones, the internet have all been invented in our
generation. Those are all positive changes but they create a feeling of
instability in our lives. Every generation experiences the winds of change, but
we've experienced a hurricane of transformations.

Not all change that has taken place has been good. Some has been immoral
(Internet pornography), some wasteful (remember the promise that the
lottery would solve our educational problems?), some impractical (wearing
your pants so low they fall off when you get too active!). So some resistance
to change is understandable.
But the truth is, the older we get the more inclined we are to get in a rut of
routine to the point that we instinctively resist change because it takes us out
of our comfort zone. We want the same parking place, the same seat, the
same songs, the same program, because we feel comfortable with them. So
we become inflexible and we sometimes look silly.

Ecclesiastes 7:10 reads, "Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than
these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions." We have to accept change in
order to contribute to progress. Abraham was 75 when God came to him and
said, "I want you to move." Abraham agreed. From that point on his life was
one incredible adventure. There was little certainty, but there was a lot of
service and significance, because he was willing to be flexible. You can sit
back with your arms folded in disgust and pine for the good old days, or you
can get on board with God's program for the future.
Jesus taught that you can't put new wine in old brittle wineskins because
when the wine ferments, the wineskins will burst. You better put new wine in
new wineskins that can expand and be flexible. The Spirit of God is living and
powerful. He is a God of the present. He keeps bursting out of the old forms
and that means we've got to be flexible and rejoice that His mercies are new
every morning!

#3 - The third most difficult temptation is feelings of regret. People look back
over their lives and wish they had done things differently. "If I had been a
better parent, my kids wouldn't have had so much trouble." Or, "I wish I had
never gone through that divorce." "I wish I'd chosen a different career."

The blood of Christ cleanses us of all sin. But some people carry guilt for
things they haven’t forgiven themselves of - for 50 or 60 years, they've not
been able to forgive themselves. The joy of life has been diminished by
regret.

After his sin with Bathsheba, David lamented, "My sin is always before me"
(Psalms 51:3). Joseph's ten older brothers regretted selling him into slavery.
When their father died they pleaded again with Joseph to forgive them of
what they had done years before.

Regret causes people to wallow in self-pity, to feel unworthy, to miss the joy
of forgiveness. They fail to appreciate today because of mistakes of yesterday.
Sometimes they refuse to accept leadership roles because of feelings of
inadequacy.

When Moses was 80 years old God said, "I want you to go to Pharaoh and
lead my people out of Egypt." Moses immediately protested, "Oh, no, not me.
I'm content to tend sheep here in the wilderness. Send somebody else."
Moses regretted his past – he had killed a man once – so much he would
have missed out on his role of deliverer if God hadn't persisted.

It's human nature for good people to remember their most glaring mistakes.
Hall of fame athletes were asked to list their three most memorable moments
in sports and almost all of them included one or two instances of failure (i.e.
they struck out in the ninth with the bases loaded; they missed a free throw
that could have won the game).

Sometimes the best Christian people remember their failures because of their
commitment to obedience and excellence. In that sense regret indicates an
awareness of the perfection of Jesus Christ. But the cure for regret is to totally
accept the incredible forgiveness of God. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now, let us
reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall
be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

There is no sin you've committed that God can't forgive and forget. Some of
the people He has used in the most significant ways made huge mistakes.
Abraham lied, Moses murdered, and David committed adultery, Peter denied
he knew Jesus, Paul persecuted Christians to their deaths. So don't allow
regret of your past to hold you back. Christ's death on the cross forgives you
if you put your trust in Him. His blood can make the foulest sinner clean.

#2 - The second most dangerous temptation according to this little

unscientific poll is a Critical Spirit. This is one of those temptations that
intensifies as we get older. Our patience gets thinner, and we gripe about
unpleasant circumstances. We often feel a loss of influence and criticize
people who are now in charge. Criticism is sometimes a way of getting
attention and reminding people of our importance.

Criticism comes second nature to us as we get older. "I wish they'd discipline
that child." "It's embarrassing the way she dresses." "How much do you think
they spent for that new thing?" "I wish he didn't use notes; the other guy
doesn't use notes."

In the Bible, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was a wonderful and cooperative
wife. But it seems the older she got the more critical she became. At age 60,
she became impatient with God for not fulfilling His promise of a child and
instructed her husband to have a child by her servant girl Hagar. Then she
criticized Abraham for doing what she had asked him to do. Then she
criticized Hagar for acting so smug about her pregnancy. She then criticized
Hagar's son Ishmael for taunting her young son Isaac. Sarah's criticism in her
older years made the home a place of agitation and discomfort for a while.
Paul told Titus, "Teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live,
not to be slanderers . . . " (Titus 2:3).

The cure for a critical spirit is to replace criticism with a positive attitude. Just
refuse to become a grumpy old man or whiny old woman. You might get
attention with criticism, but you don't make any friends. Nobody ever says,
"Let's go talk with Hazel — I love to hear her gripe!" Make a vow that you're
not going to say anything critical or unkind. The difference is attitude —
focusing on the positive. Philippians 4:8 reads, "Finally, brothers, whatever is
true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think
about such things." If you can't say something positive don't say anything at
all.

#1 temptation for seniors- There was basically universal agreement that the
number one temptation for older people is worry. The older you get, the
more temptation there is to be anxious about tomorrow. One reason is that
there are more physical problems. Every ache you think, "This could be the
big one!" Or, "This could be cancer. I don't have enough insurance. I hate to
think of going through chemotherapy. I'll probably die a slow painful death."
And all that is before you go to the doctor!

The longer you live, the more bad things you've seen happen. Kids don't
worry much because they naively think, "It will never happen to me." But as
you get older you have seen more bad things happen. You wind up saying
stupid things to your grandchildren like, "When you ride that roller coaster,
don't unfasten your seat belt and stand up. You could fall out." They'll say,
"Grandma, you worry about the silliest things!" As you get older, you worry
more, because you have more family members you really care about.

The mother of James and John came to Jesus saying, "When you come into
your kingdom would you see to it that my sons get places of honor?" James
and John were grown men. They were doing pretty well on their own. They
were a part of Jesus' inner circle of three. But she was still worried about their
future. They had given up a family fishing business to follow Jesus, and she
wanted to make sure they were going to be successful.

Jesus asked, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Did
you ever watch people roll a bowling ball? It's entertaining to watch what they
do after releasing the ball. They talk to it, use body English, contort their
bodies, hop on one foot, tilt their heads, as if they had some magic control
over the ball. But it doesn't change the roll of the ball one bit. All they can do
is let it go and get ready for the next shot. Worry is like that. It accomplishes
nothing. It just wastes energy, makes us look foolish and demonstrates our
lack of faith.

Worry isn't overcome by pretending that nothing bad is ever going to

happen because that's unrealistic. Worry is overcome by trusting that God will
care for you regardless of what happens. Philippians 4:6-7 reads, "Do not be
anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus."

So you decide: I can't prevent my kids from falling into the gutter. I can't
prevent the split in my family. I can't prevent every hurt from happening to
me. But I believe God's Word is true — He cares for the birds and the flowers,
and He cares even more for me. Therefore I'm going to release the results to
him.

Isaiah 46:4 in the New Living Translation reads, "I will be your God through all
your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will
care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior."

Do you believe that? Then quit churning about tomorrow and live each day
to the fullest. Jesus said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"
(Matthew 6:34). God gives us just enough energy for each day. When we
spend a day worrying we've wasted some of the resources He intended to be
focused on that day.

The best advice we can receive in old age is to say with the Psalmist, "This is
the day that the Lord has made"; I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it
(Psalms 118:24).