Sermon Illustrations
Survey on Top Temptations
A 2011 study tracked the top temptations Americans face. The people surveyed said they struggled with the following temptations either "often" or "sometimes":
- Worrying or being anxious—60 percent
- Procrastinating or putting things off—60 percent
- Eating too much—55 percent
- Spending too much time on media—44 percent
- Being lazy—41 percent
- Spending more money than they could afford—35 percent
- Gossiping about others—26 percent
- Being jealous or envious of others—24 percent
- Viewing pornography or sexually explicit material—18 percent
- Abusing alcohol or drugs—11 percent
When asked if they tried to do anything specific to avoid giving in to a temptation, 41 percent said yes and 59 percent said no.
When people were asked why they give in to temptations, the top four reasons were:
- I am not really sure—50 percent
- To escape or get away from "real life"—20 percent
- To feel less pain or loneliness—8 percent
- To satisfy other people's expectations of me—7 percent