"You will not yield to the temptations which you know and fear; for the fear of falling is one of the best gifts of the Holy Spirit. Through that holy fear He arms His servants against danger, and teaches them how to conquer themselves.... If you had no fear I should fear for you.... Fear then, and let your holy fear be lifelong. 'Blessed is the man that feareth always.' But keep that fear within due limits, so that you do not become discouraged and forsake your work; let it rather move you to renewed hope, and more earnest watchfulness, self-mistrust, and confidence in God."[13] (3) Grief at the temptation implies, of necessity, that the will is still in a state of opposition to the suggestion. "So long as you are grieved at the temptation, there is nothing to fear, for why does it grieve you save because your will does not consent to it?"[14] A glance at the nature of grief shows this to be true. Grief is {159} the emotion that arises when we are forced to suffer that which is contrary to the will.[15] On the other hand, the absence of grief should rouse us to inquire if our souls be not in a dangerous state of tepidity. If one were seriously to suggest our doing something that would be a marked dishonour to an earthly friend and benefactor, there would be an almost immediate sense of shock and grief that we should be thought capable of such baseness. There would, in all likelihood, be a sense of disappointment with ourselves that we had given so poor a testimony of our love and loyalty that anyone could think it possible for us to be thus untrue to our friend. So, along with the grief at the presence of the temptation let us make sure that there be a very deep searching of heart to find what there is in our life to encourage the tempter to think we would be untrue to a Father who has loved us with an everlasting love,[16] and whose tender compassions are renewed to us every morning.[17] (4) A consciousness of the existence of temptation is generally a sign that the will has not wholly, at any rate, yielded consent. {160} The entrance of sin into the soul by consent marks the cessation of struggle, and therefore, when there is still a clear sense of struggle, we are to conclude that as the temptation is still going on we have not yet given full consent. Dom Baker assures us that "A well-minded soul may conclude that there is in the will a refusal to consent to the suggestion, even in the midst of the greatest disorder thereof, _whilst the combat does not cease_."[18] Those who are wholly unconscious of temptation are too often those who have yielded to the tempter, and he troubles them no more. Those who still feel the pressure of his enmity can thank God and take courage that the devil still counts them worthy of his antagonism.