As N.T. Wright puts it, "temptation always takes as its starting point something which is in itself good." To put it another way, temptation takes some part of what God has made (and what God makes is good) and attempts to bend it in an ungodly direction.

Examples abound. God built rest and recreation into his plan for creation, but we tend to take the gift and convert it into self-indulgence. Work is good, but we often elevate it to the point that it becomes the god (lower case"g") to which we devote our lives. Our God-given power to manage creation a bit morphs too easily into runaway manipulation of matter, energy and biological life solely for economic gain.

Even the gift of yearning for righteousness is not exempt. The desire to please God is inherently good. It draws us to grapple seriously with the Ten Commandments, the ethical and worship demands of the prophets, the Sermon on the Mount and the like. The experience humbles us, and we soon recognize we need God's ongoing forgiveness because of the impossibility of ever fully realizing his dream for us. Ideally, such a process slowly molds us into people who know we can rely upon God's loving us, safely admit and confess our sin to him, and count on being forgiven and encouraged to try again. 

Our yearning for righteousess goes astray when we are tempted to become self-righteous and assume the right to defend God's honor. That way always leads to some form of the Inquisition, abuse of power and mistreatment of others. Self-righteousness destroys relationships and never honors God.

Temptation is sneaky! It takes that which is good and tries to turn it toward evil. Jesus, Paul, the other New Testament writers and Christian sages across the ages warn us to be on guard against temptation. It turns out they are right!