Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. – James 5:16 NKJV
Thank you for sticking along in this journey. My plan was not to do a series of any sort, but I am thankful for the guidance of the Lord. I hope this has helped someone in some way, shape or form. Temptation is a beast, isn’t it? I would like to think about temptation as a battle in the war of salvation. This post is by NO means a formula, but it is a starting point. Hopefully by the end of this post, you will have some strength and wisdom in ways to overcome temptation. I will be giving you a lot of scripture so… let’s dive in!
In war, whether physical warfare or spiritual warfare, the first few steps would be to (1) recognize and acknowledge that there is a war and that there is an opponent. The second step is to (2) agree to wage war or to accept defeat. The next step is to (3) strategize. This includes deciding what you want to do, how you want to handle it, and what victory looks like. To keep it simple, the last step would be to (4) fight (or flee), depending on your strategy.
Once again, temptation is a battle in the war of salvation that we are fighting towards. This means that we will not win the war until Jesus comes. This also means that we will have MANY battles with temptation and other things. I think it is important for us to acknowledge this, so that if we fall into temptation, we can rely on the strength of God to continuously pick us up. It is important to acknowledge this, so that we are in constant expectation, knowing that, we are not exempt from temptation. It also helps us to get out of this long term funk that we fall into, and get up and continue in our walk with Christ.
Small disclaimer. We cannot overcome temptation alone, or by our own might. Indeed, the battle is not ours, but it is the Lord’s (2 Chr 20:15). Remember that temptation is tied to your desires, things that you want. Do you realize how challenging it is to reject something you want? It requires the strength of God. Please do not think that as a Christian, you will not face temptation or even trials for that matter. In fact, temptation will happen and KEEP happening. It will continue until we die. So… what do we do?
Let’s look at scripture.
Step 1: Acknowledgment and Recognition
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. – James 1:14 ESV
We must acknowledge and recognize that the devil is looking for people to disturb, tempt and destroy. The Bible also tells us in John 10:10 that the Devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. Therefore, we must recognize that the devil does not rest. Therefore, temptation will come often. We also need to recognize that temptation will also come, because temptation is driven by our own desires.
Step 2: Agree to Wage War or Accept Defeat
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. – James 4:7 ESV
Flee from sexual immorality. – 1 Cor 6:18a ESV
In the continuous battle of temptation, you can decide to flee or resist, depending on the kind of temptation you are experiencing. On the flip side, you can decide to fall into temptation, and allow it to overtake you and eventually live a life of sin. As crazy as it may sound, a good chunk of us actually accept defeat and fall right into temptation. Let me remind you that, it is not easy to resist or flee from temptation. However, we have a choice in the matter whether to fight against what is tempting us, and flee from what we are being tempted by. I believe we have to make a conscious effort daily to wage war against the things that tempt us.
Step 3: Strategize
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. – Eph 6:11 NIV
Once you make a decision to wage war, WHETHER you have fallen into it or not, you have to strategize. How are you going to win this battle? Will you use your own strength? Will you use your own might? Will you use weapons? Do you know how the enemy attacks you and how he gets into your mind? At what time of day do you face temptation the most? During what season? We all know that when you are strategizing (or as New Yorkers would say, “PLOTTING”), you have to ask a lot of questions. But ultimately, even in knowing all the ways that the enemy comes to pull us into his trap, we need to take it one step further by wearing the full armor and fighting.
Step 4: Fight
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Gal 5:16 NIV
Many of you may think that this is the part where you are so supposed to resist or flee temptation. If you wait this long, you may fall into it. This is the part where you are preventative, rather than reactive. Fighting is the part where you make a conscious effort to submit yourself to Christ and allow him to be your strength. This is the part where you walk by the Spirit. How exactly do I “walk by the spirit”?
As stated in Temptations, there are some things that we can do to help overcome temptation. These things will in turn help us to walk in the Spirit of God.
- Word of God, to combat the thoughts and approach of the enemy
- Fasting, this builds self-control
- Prayer, as we know that we wrestle not against flesh and blood
- Recognition, knowing the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN & WHY
- Fleeing, literally RUNNING AWAY, especially if it’s sexual sin
- Resisting, a.k.a. using self-control to make sure it doesn’t happen
- Renewal of mind, since it can be a matter of desires
As I said earlier, this is by NO means a formula, but in my study, these are some things I wanted to share with you as a beginning of a journey in overcoming temptation. As the opening verse says, we should also find a trusted person and confess our sins to them, so they can pray for us and also hold us accountable when need be. It will help heal our spirits of guilt. If you have a way in which God empowers you to overcome temptation, please drop it in the comment box to help encourage someone else. God bless you! Let’s pray!
Thank you God for helping me to understand that temptation is not foreign concept and that we are not immune to it as human beings. Thank you for the fact that temptations come. It allows me to remember to be completely dependent on you, because I need you every second, minute and hour of each day. Father, in this battle, help me to walk in the spirit, so that I do not gratify the desires of my flesh. Help me to flee, resist and overcome temptation as it comes. Father, even if there are times where I do fall into temptation, God may you restore me and remind me of your love, grace and compassion, and may you help me each time to walk in the path of righteousness. Father, may you give me a spirit of self-control to be strong in the face of temptation. May you give me wisdom and discern to recognize when temptation is coming and may you give me strength to overcome. Thank you Father, in Jesus name I pray, Amen!
Sincerely Yours, Lydia.
This is an amazing write up Lydia 🔥