The devil knew who Jesus was and what he could do.  He knew Jesus could change stones into bread. So, the devil challenged him to show he was powerful and did not depend on God. This is a way of drawing Jesus away from His Father’s plan by misusing his power and privileges.  Jesus did not fall into the trap because Jesus was humble enough to recognize the strength and wisdom of God’s words. Jesus knew he didn’t come to earth merely to show off his ability to do what no one else could. He comes here to show us love and to save us.

Like what the enemy did to Jesus, we are also tempted to use our talents, wealth, or power to make us depend on ourselves and not God and to promote our self-interest and not the interest of the Kingdom.  So, watch your gift or strength. The devil could use it to tempt you.  The devil may tell you to use your strengths to be overconfident, arrogant, and rely too much on yourself.  The devil may make you believe that you no longer need God.  Then we stop praying, we stop giving, we stop building friendship. We show off what we have and want other people to envy us. Our world has experienced unnecessary hardship because many fall into this trap.

The antidote to temptation is humility.  Humility is the virtue of being reliant upon God. Humility means that we know we are God’s children, and we should love ourselves as God loves us and that we do not become self-seeking, greedy, or arrogant.

Let us remember the mark of ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday, which is a sign that helps us find our path towards God. Pope Francis says it is a reminder that none of the many things occupying our thoughts, which we chase and worry about daily, will remain.  No matter how hard we work, we cannot take what we have from this life.  Earthly existence and realities fade away like dust in the wind.  Possessions are temporary, power passes, and success wanes. Be humble.  A poem titled “After 100 Years” says that after 100 years, we will all be gone from this world. After 100 years, the house you built will be occupied by others. After 100 years, someone will succeed you from your post. After 100 years, the money that you worked hard will be used by others.

Be humble, use what you have to build the kingdom of God. Be humble.

Let us repent and emulate the humility of Jesus. Lent means repentance, and it means turning around. If something leads us to sin—avoid it. Turn around. Do not get closer to sin and temptation.  It is like an angry dog barking and tied to a tree.  You do not want to be closer to the angry dog; otherwise, it will bite you.  We can only recognize temptations around us, and we can only turn around if we remain humble like Jesus, who depends on the power of God to resist temptations.