We are tempted every day, whether we notice it or not. The enemy doesn’t like it when people follow Christ. Therefore he tries to persuade us to go after our desires and wants instead of doing God’s will. We must then learn how to notice when we are being tempted and also ask God’s guidance on how to resist temptation.
Firstly, you should know that you don’t have to be controlled by or give in to temptation if you don’t want to. God has built within each of us, a powerful mind, and when thoughts are controlled our actions will fall in line. Never believe the lie of the devil, that we are controlled by our impulses; that we can’t help but sin.
Christ our example
It’s true, because of Adam and Eve’s sin, every human being is born with the propensity to sin but through Christ’s sacrifice, we can claim victory over our sinful nature and live an abundant faithful life. Every human being on the face of the planet will be tempted to do wrong. Whether or not we believe in God, there still exists a moral code within all of us.
When Christ came to earth, He exemplified what it means to live a life without sin, giving us the blueprint to follow. We all know that Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness (Matthew 4) but we can also assume that he was tempted through the entity of His life on earth and every day He was able to resist the attacks of the enemy (Hebrews 4:15). Therefore every day we must strive to live sinless lives and it first comes from resisting temptation.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
This is a powerful promise, which means that whatever the temptation, God already has an escape plan. We just have to rely on His power to resist.
This text is also saying that even amid the enemy’s temptation, God is still in control. There is nothing that happens to us without God’s knowledge and consent.
The lies of the enemy
Peter makes it very clear in our devotional text for today, he says “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”
The Lord knows how to deliver us from temptations.
The trick of the enemy is that he makes us believe that we are not being tempted in the first place. He makes us believe that our sin is too small to make a difference and we shouldn’t even try to resist. This is also a lie! There is no big or small sin.
There are things that we do every day that we don’t consider to be sinful because we have made it our habit. Every time we do something that is against the will of God, we have sinned. Every truth that you have been given you are held accountable for and blatantly going against that truth is also a sin.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”
Romans 1:18
For example, every time you gossip knowing fully well you should not gossip, you have performed a sinful action because you’ve gone against what God told you not to do.
Sinful Habits
We must ask God for the strength to get rid of sinful habits. The more you practice sin the less you see it as something wrong. Therefore to resist temptation, we must first ask God to help us identify the sinful habits so we know what we’re up against. Because it’s hard to resist something if you don’t identify it as sin.
Anything we know we shouldn’t do but might want to do is considered temptation. It could be as simple as eating too much fast food or even committing adultery. When we recognize that we are being tempted we should stop and pray “Oh Lord, help me to resist this temptation.” And he has promised to deliver us.
In a previous article, I listed actionable steps to break free from sinful habits (How To Get Rid of a Sinful Habit), today we’re going to focus on how to resist temptation so it does not have the chance of becoming a habit in the first place.
Here are 3 Habits That Can Help You Resist Temptation:
1. Focus your mind on Christ
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 2:5
Anything the mind focuses on, it will become. Have you ever binged a television show and then caught yourself talking like one of the characters? Or spent a significant time in another country and began picking up their accent? These effects take place because the brain is malleable, meaning it can adapt or change depending on the situation.
This amazing feature of our brain is the reason we can form new habits, learn new skills and adapt to our surroundings. But it is also the feature that can be most affected by negative stimuli and cause us to develop bad habits if we’re not careful.
Just as when we focus on one task over and over, so we get better at it, we can focus our mind on Christ so we become more like Him. This is the ultimate weapon to resist temptation. By developing a close relationship with God, His will becomes our will. Day by day the enemy’s temptations become less and less effective because our minds are now Heaven bound.
I remember talking to one of my students and she was telling me about her struggle with sexual temptation. I asked her in what situations she found herself being the most tempted and she told me her biggest struggle came when she and her boyfriend was alone in her dorm room.
Now, while the answer may seem obvious to you and me, it came as a shock to her when I told her to avoid being in her dorm room alone with her boyfriend. Seems simple right? It’s not even something that she considered. A lot of us are falling into temptation daily because we are not actively putting things in place to avoid sin.
The Bible says to shun the very appearance of evil, so if it looks like it may lead to sin, it would be wise to try to avoid it. For example, if you have a gambling problem, don’t walk near a casino.
If you can identify where exactly the temptation is coming from, then you can avoid falling into it. At first, this may seem like you’re just avoiding the problem but the more you avoid situations that may lead to temptation the less hold the enemy has on your mind.
3. Pray without ceasing
“Pray without ceasing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17
It might sound like a cliche at this point, but it still bears repeating; Prayer Changes Things. There is a reason that God has granted us access to His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). There is unspeakable power that we often don’t tap into via prayer.
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Matthew 4:4
Jesus gives us an actionable way to resist temptation during His time in the wilderness. At every single recorded temptation during that time, Jesus responded with verses of scripture.
He had the word of His Father wrapped up in His mind that at every attack, He was able to counterattack with a related passage. We can follow this example exactly, by storing up God’s word in our hearts so that when trials and temptations come our way, we can use the word of God as our shield.
Prayer for Today:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your promise of deliverance from temptation. I know that you would not suffer me above that which I can bear. Help me to see when I’m being tempted. And help me to rely on your power to resist. I know that you will help me.
Amen.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article today. If you have a question, query or story you’d like to share with me, please leave a comment or email me using the form below.
