Jesus us taught us to pray: "Lead us not into temptation."
Martin Luther wrote in his explanation of this prayer:
God
tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep
us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive
us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and
vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may
finally overcome them and win the victory.
A famous poster of the comic strip character, Charlie Brown, says, "I
can resist everything except temptation."
The truth is, if we try to resist temptation to sin only on our own
strength, we will fail. We need God's help. In the Bible,
God promises to help us to have victory over temptation as we use the
resources He provides for us.
1. Avoid
places, people, and things that tempt
you.
"Make no provision for the flesh, to
fulfill its lusts" (Romans 13:14 NKJV)
"Do no think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
(NIV)
You already know your own weaknesses. You may feel
discouraged by your frequent failures to resist temptation to a
particular sin.
- If you often give in to a certain sin when you
are in a certain place, don't go near that place.
- If certain friends pull you down, don't go with
them.
- If you regularly buy something that is destroying
you morally, spiritually, physically, or financially, shop at a
different store.
- If something in your home temps you beyond your
ability to resist, get rid of it.
- If your debt is out of
control, cut up your credit cards.
Recovering alcoholics and drug addicts understand this
principle very
well. For some people, it means finding new friends. For
other
people, it means driving home a different route, in order to avoid
driving pass the bars.
In the past we could
tell men: "If you want victory over pornography,
throw out the porn that you already have and don't bring any more
home." But now with
porn easily accessible through the internet and cable TV, the challenge
is greater. So the need is even greater to make difficult
choices and
figure out ways to make tempting material inaccessible.
2. Flee temptation
The Bible does not tell
us that we should fight against
temptation. It says we should run
away from the things (and the people) that tempt us.
Paul wrote:
|
New
King James Version
|
New
Century Version
|
| 1 Corinthians 6:18 |
Flee
sexual immorality. |
Run
away from sexual sin. |
| 1 Corinthians 10:14 |
Flee
from idolatry. |
Run
away from the worship of
idols. |
| 1 Timothy 6:9-11 |
Those who desire to be rich fall
into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts
which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from
the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. But you, O man of God,
flee these things...
|
Those who want to become rich
bring temptation to
themselves and are caught in a trap. They want many foolish and harmful
things that ruin and destroy people. The love of money causes all kinds
of evil. Some people have left the faith, because they wanted to get
more money, but they have caused themselves much sorrow. But
you, man
of God, run away from all those things...
|
| 2 Timothy 2:22 |
Flee
also youthful lusts. |
But run away from the evil young
people like to do. |
How do we do this?
When you unexpectedly
find yourself in a tempting situation, GET OUT FAST! Don't be so
foolish as to think you can stay in the situation but not give into
temptation. Joseph gives a good
example. (Genesis
39:11,12)
Be honest with yourself. The real reason
you stay in a tempting situation is because curiosity overwhelms
you. We foolishly think that we can enjoy temptation
without actually giving into sin.
Temptation often comes
to us at unexpected times and in unexpected places. And we are
not always able to get away from it. So what should we do then?
3. Pray!
"The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has.
But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than
you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to
escape so that you will be able to stand it." (1
Corinthians 10:13 NCV)
We are not strong
enough to resist temptation alone. We need God's help. When
you see temptation coming, immediately
cry out, "Lord, help me! Show me Your way of escape!"
The next steps are some of those ways that God will show us to escape
from temptation.
4. Quote to yourself a
Scripture verse that talks about that particular temptation to sin.
"Jesus
answered, 'It is written in the Scriptures...' " (Matthew
4:4,7,10; Luke 4:4,8,12)
When you are facing strong temptations, you can do the
same as Jesus did when He was tempted.
God's Word is a powerful weapon against the lies of Satan. God's
Word also gives us wisdom and direction when we face difficult
decisions.
Very often God's final answer to Satan's temptation is found in the Ten
Commandments. Memorize the Ten Commandments. After
that, study Matthew 5, 6, and 7, where Jesus applies the Ten
Commandments to every day life. The Old Testament book of
Proverbs and the New Testament letters of Paul are filled with wise
counsel that can help defend you against temptation. The trick is
to learn that counsel before
temptation hits, so you will have a dense against temptation.
5. Recognized
that temptation is a hook
bated with a
lie.
"You were taught, with regard to your
former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted
by its deceitful desires; to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
(Ephesians 4:22-25 NIV)
Notice that Bible calls
sinful desires "deceitful." That means they lie.
The tempter says, "Do this, and you will feel
good." Wrong. That is a lie. Just remember the last
time you gave in to temptation, and how bad you felt afterward.
Remember how disappointed you were with yourself. The tempter did
not warn you about that.
After you experience the consequences of sin several times, you can
face temptation with the memory of those painful memories. You
have learned the hard way, giving in to temptation is not worth
it!
The Bible is full of examples of "small" sins that led to terribly
destructive consequences.
- Eve's desire to be "wise as God" & Adam's failure to protect
her (Genesis 3)
- Cain's hatred of his brother Abel (Genesis 4)
- Abraham & Sarah's lack of faith in God's promise (Genesis 16)
- David's lust for another man's wife (2 Samuel 11)
- Solomon's polygamy (1 Kings 11)
- Greed & dishonesty (Joshua 7; 1 Samuel 15; John
12; Acts 5)
A wise person learns from his mistakes. A
foolish person ignores those lessons and continues in his foolish ways.
6. Recognize
the danger of the "second look."
"One
night David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the
palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing..." (2 Samuel
11:2)
King David
did not sin when he first saw Bathsheba bathing. His sin started
when he decided to
keep looking at her.
The moment a temptation comes, you have less than one second to
decide
what do to --
Flee? (or look away)
Cry out to God?
Give in?
Every good soldier
trained for battle already knows what to do before the battle comes. Every
Christian needs to know how to respond to temptation before temptation strikes.
7. Picture in your mind
Christ suffering on the cross for that specific sin which tempts you.
Christ
carried our sins in his body on the cross so we would stop living for
sin and start living for what is right. And you are healed because of
his wounds. (1 Peter 2:24 NCV)
Our sins cause Jesus to
suffer and die. Do we really despise our Savior so much that we
would
deliberately add to the horrors of hell that He suffered for us on the
cross?
8. Confess your habitual sins and
failures to another Christian and become accountable to
him/her about your particular weakness.
Confess
your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you.
When a believing person prays, great things happen. (James 5:16 NCV)
Important: Tell
only a person whom you can trust to keep your confession secret.
That person also must be gentle, patient, wise, and mature.
And that person must know God's Word.
When we confess our specific sins and receive God's specific
forgiveness, He frees us from the bondage of guilt we have for those
sins. The loosens Satan's hold on us to keep dragging us
down.
And when a Christian brother or sister encourages us and counsels us
from God's Word, we receive more of God's gifts for faithfully living
the Christian life.
|
Dealing with temptation
1.
Avoid places, people, and things that tempt you.
2.
Flee temptation.
3.
When temptation hits, pray,
"Lord,
show me Your way of escape!"
4.
Quote Scripture against temptation.
5.
Remember that temptation is a lie.
6.
Recognize the danger of the second look.
7.
Picture in your mind Christ suffering on the cross
for that specific sin which tempts you.
8.
Confess and become accountable.
|
A true story from the Autobiography of the late Senator Harold
Hughes, Man From Ida Grove.
Before becoming a Senator, Hughes was Governor
of Iowa. Before
that, he was a cussing, drinking truck driver, known to his friends as
"Pack." This
story is from those truck driving days, a short time after he became a
Christian
As it takes a flame and wick to set off a powder charge, so do
alcoholics suffer syndromes which start them drinking. They find
themselves in a situation where a combination of elements sets up a
deadly desire.
With me it was usually a lonely hotel room after a hard day's
work. No one would see me, and my family wouldn't know.
Such a chain of elements was created when I checked in at the Savery
Hotel in downtown Des Moines one night after a series of hectic
business meetings. Before leaving my room to go to a restaurant
for dinner, I thought I'd relax for a moment.
I had picked up a copy of the evening newspaper and was scanning the
pages when I suddenly felt the urge. By that time, I had not
touched alcohol for over a year, and though there had been many urges I
had been able to overcome
them. However, my longtime habit of an evening drink coupled with
being
alone in a hotel room generated a powerful force deep within me.
I
wanted a drink. .I needed it. I had to have it.
Desperately I battled. I turned back to the paper and tried to
read. Drumming incessantly within me, however, was the demand for
a drink.
I
stood up, the paper falling to the floor. Suddenly, I felt like
two different people, the new and the old Harold Hughes. The urge
became overpowering. I knew that in a very few moments I would be
going to dinner at a downtown restaurant. To reach it I would
pass an old drinking spot. And I knew as well as I stood in that
hotel room that I would go into my old haunt
for a drink. I could already savor its delicious burning
strength. I felt lost, defeated…
I grabbed my coat from the back of the chair. This is it, I
figured. Nobody's going to know about my getting drunk.
I'll just get it out of my system.
In the exhilaration of decision, I pushed out the door and into the
corridor of the hotel, heading for the elevators. But as I stood
waiting for the elevator, something came over me. What was I
doing?
I leaned against the wall and prayed. "Oh, God, please don't let
me do this." The chime of the "down" elevator broke the spell
and I
headed for the open door. The lust for a drink was in charge
again.
I strode through the hotel lobby out into a warm Iowa evening.
The traffic
hubbub did not distract me from the neon lights of the bar down the
street.
One last spark of resistance flickered within and like a drowning man
clawing, at a reed, I clutched a parking meter.
"Pack!" Above the rumble of traffic I heard my name being called.
I looked up and coming, toward me down the sidewalk was an old friend I
hadn't seen in years.
"Imagine
that!" he exclaimed, pumping, my hand. "I step out of a cab and
there you are. What are you doing for dinner?" he asked.
"I was on my way," I managed to say.
"Well, come join me."
As we walked together into a restaurant, I sensed a malevolent power
leaving me.
We had a good dinner, chatting over old times, and as we paid our
bills, I
realized the desire was completely gone.
"Say," said my friend, looking up at me, a toothpick in his
mouth. "Wasn't
that a coincidence, our meeting like this?"
I thought of my feeble prayer at the elevator, and clapped him on the
shoulder. "No, Sam, no… I don't believe
it was a coincidence at all!"
[Harold E. Hughes (with Dick
Schneider), The Man from Ida Grove. (Chosen Books, 1979), pp.
114-116]
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