How are you at overcoming temptation?
What do you do when you’re tempted to do something you know you shouldn’t do? How do you resist the temptation? Or do you just give into it? Are you good at overcoming temptation?
One of the questions I get a lot is: “How do I resist the temptations in my life?” This is something we all have to deal with.
And at some point, as you grow spiritually, it’s not just about resisting temptation, but getting to the point where these things are no longer temptations and you have freedom and some peace of mind. And that’s what we’re talking about today on this episode of Freedom Friday.
There are so many things I could say about how to deal with temptation. I could quote lots of Bible verses, I could go on and on, but those things at some point just sound like a bunch of words.
First step in overcoming temptation: recognize them
So I’m just going to share a few practical ideas that have been helpful to me and people I’ve worked with to resist and overcome temptation. The first thing I encourage you to do is to make a list of all the things that are temptations to you.
Now, don’t show this to anyone else. This is just between you and God. Take an honest look at yourself in the mirror. Write everything down, big and small, whatever it is.
Can these things be sorted into general categories like addiction or whatever it might be?
Now ask yourself, what are the things that bring these temptations to you? In other words, what triggers you? What is it? Something someone said or did? Something you see, a thought that comes to you. Whatever it is, write it down.
And then I want you to think about, what do you think you get when you give in to these temptations? Write all of these things down.
What is the opposite of your temptations?
Now, once you have this overview of your temptations and that sort of thing, make a list of the opposites of these temptations.
Let’s say you wrote down you were addicted to drugs in the past, and one of the temptations that you’re struggling with is to not take those drugs again. Well, think about what those drugs seem to do for you, what triggered it, what made it happen, that sort of thing.
But then think about the opposite of what you get from drugs. There are lots of ways to think about it. One idea might be that it’s really the opposite of the high or the release or whatever you get from drugs is getting spiritual inspiration directly from God, feeling connected with God, feeling part of something bigger than yourself, and letting go of all the things that you know aren’t important or that are bothering to you.
So go through everything on your list and come up with what the opposite is of that temptation.
Now, as you’re looking at your list, think of the times when you did not give in to those temptations.
And when you think of a time you did give in to them, think of what you could have done instead of giving into it. Think of what thought you might have had or something you could have done that would have stopped you from giving in to the temptation.
And again, write all these things down.
You need God’s help overcoming temptation
You cannot overcome these temptations all by yourself. You can’t do it through self-will. You can’t do it through human effort. You might for a time, but it’s not really a healing. You’re not really overcoming temptation that way. You’re just sort of placating it.
You can’t do this by yourself. You need God’s help.
So, I know you’ve probably already prayed about this, but pray in the most sincere way you ever have for God to open your eyes, to show you what it is that comes from Him that will take the place of that addiction.
And while you’re at it, ask someone you trust to pray for you. Sometimes we’re so afraid to ask for help for someone to pray for us because we don’t want to admit we have this problem. Pick someone you trust and ask them to pray for you. There’s really a lot of power in people praying for you.
Overcoming temptation: it helps to know where it comes from
Something that I have found really important is that you have to make a conscious effort to recognize and resist the things that tempt you to see that they’re not coming from God.
Years ago, I heard this story that has helped me so much understand how temptation comes and how we can resist it. There was this apprentice devil. He was trying to learn how to tempt people and get them to sin, and he just couldn’t get anyone to do anything wrong. He finally went to his uncle, who was a very experienced devil and had had a lot of experience in getting people to sin.
So his uncle asked him, “Well, tell me how you’re tempting people. What are you whispering in their ear?”
The little apprentice devil said, “Well, when I see a man who I know is married looking at a beautiful woman, I say, ‘Do you see that beautiful woman? You would really love to ask her out on a date and kiss her, wouldn’t you?’
“And sometimes I’ll see a kid in a candy store and he’s looking at the candy and I say, ‘Ooh, look at that candy. That’s really good. If you put a piece of that in your pocket, nobody would see it. You could walk right out the door and you wouldn’t have to pay for it.’
“I can’t get anyone to sin. I cannot get anyone to listen to me.”
And the uncle devil said, “Oh, no, no, no, that’s not the way you do it. You whisper in the first person. That way they’ll think it’s their idea.
“Next time, say to the man, oh, look at that beautiful woman, ‘I would love to take her on a date and kiss her.’ And say to the kid in front of the candy, ‘Ooh, that candy looks so good. I bet I could put a piece of that in my pocket, nobody would see me, and I could walk right out the door without paying for it.’ That’s the way you tempt people.”
Temptations don’t come from you
That’s pretty insightful, isn’t it? Whenever you feel tempted, it’s important to realize that temptation is not coming from you. It’s coming from the devil. It’s coming from outside of you. Now if you let that thought in and accept it as your own, then you’ve got to deal with that. And it does really seem like your thought, but it did not originate in you.
It comes from the enemy. So when you catch yourself being tempted, you can stop yourself and say, “Well, where is this thought coming from?”
And you don’t have to wait until you’re being tempted. You can go look at your list and ask those questions right now. And be prepared. It’ll help you be prepared if those temptations come in the future.
Something that’s been really helpful to me is when I have felt tempted and I’m trying so hard not to give in to some bad thought about someone or do something I shouldn’t, or I’m about to say something I know I shouldn’t say, something that’s not loving, I will stop and just quietly say to myself, “Thank you, God, for giving me dominion over this temptation.” Sometimes I say it over and over, you can do this too. Thank you, God, for giving me dominion over this temptation.
And again, you can say this ahead of time before you feel the temptation. And that strengthens you. Every time you resist temptation, even a small one, you grow stronger. You grow spiritually. And that makes it easier to resist the next time.
And the more you resist whatever those temptations may be, you will grow into a place where the things that used to be temptations no longer have any attraction to you. You’re actually overcoming temptation itself. Because your true deep desire is to know and obey God in your life.
How you see yourself
Like so many things, it comes down to how you see yourself. If you see yourself as weak and unable to resist and overcome temptation, well, that’ll be exactly what happens.
But you can say to yourself, “With God’s help, I can overcome these temptations because I know they’re not coming from God.”
Now these are just a few ideas for you to think about. I hope they’ll be helpful. I’d love to hear from you which one is more helpful. And if there’s something else that I haven’t talked about that you have found helpful in resisting and overcoming temptation, I would love to hear from you.
If you’re struggling with guilt and shame from the past, you don’t have to carry this burden around anymore. It’s keeping you from being all God made you to be. I’ve helped hundreds of people overcome their guilt and find the freedom they deserve.
There are several ways to get some help and work with me. You can get a copy of my no frills eBook called Guilt Free Faith. Just email guiltfreebookmail.com and put the word “Book” in the subject line and I’ll send it to you. You can book a one time consulting call with me. You can be part of my Guilt Free Faith Group program, and I do one on one coaching.
And of course you can listen and subscribe to the podcast The Bible Speaks to You. To contact me, just click the contact link in my bio below.
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Photo Credit: Ximena Nahmias
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by learning to think, pray, and love like Jesus. Contact him here.
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