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Temptation
Temptations mean being asked to renounce something which is good or at least needed. In the first temptation we are asked to renounce the goods of this world; in the second, we are asked to renounce security. We see in this how deceptive evil is; for we are not tempted into evil by things which are evil, but by things which are good or needful. The opening into the spiritual realm is blocked, not by evil things, but by good ones. This is why a renunciation is required of us; to give up something of value, to give up pearls for the one pearl of great price. This is why the spiritual world, when genuinely encountered, is initially unattractive. In fact one of the tests for whether we have ever genuinely encountered very much of the divine reality is whether or not we have experience this initial unattractiveness of its terms.
The third temptation has to do with a renunciation of ourselves. Again this is a renunciation of something that is of value; for we are indeed precious to God and all of us individually find ourselves to be of unconditional value to ourselves. But we are asked to renounce our will, which is our control over ourselves, and, as we shall see, this means that it is we ourselves who stand as the final bariier at the very entrance to the spiritual world. (p. 19)
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Grace and Peace,