Msgr Pope ping
Well, putting the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, making sure it was easily accessible and then allowing the most powerful fallen angel to tempt Adam and Eve to eat from it, shows how much God thinks temptation is important. Free Will is meaningless without temptation.
Ping!
Msgr. Pope provides a very useful, for me at least, defense against temptation here:
If we will but take a moment and reflect, it is not hard to see how true all of this is. Temptation discloses just how awful, annoying, and just plain irritating Satan is.
How this contrasts with the gentle, unobtrusive, whispering voice of God, who respects our freedom! God seldom, if ever, shouts or gets in our face and pressures us; He does not lie to us.
Why?
God seeks sons and daughters, not inanimate objects, animals, or slaves. He wants sons and daughters who love him freely. Love presupposes freedom. Our “Yes” only has meaning if we have the capacity to say “No.” So freedom presupposes choices.