HOW TO DEAL WITH TEMPTATION

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.” 1Co10:13 NKJV

You should deal with temptation in the same way you would deal with weeds in a garden. You can’t just cut off the tops of the weeds, because in a few days, they’ll be back. Similarly, saying, “I’ll just stop sinning” addresses only the externals. Another option is mowing the weeds all the way down to the ground, cutting off the shoots. Now the garden looks good and weed-free for a while, but it doesn’t stay weed-free. The only effective way to deal with temptation is at its root. The Bible says: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape.” What is God’s “way of escape” for you? Living in His Word and allowing His Word to live in you. Satan tempted Jesus three different times in the wilderness, but Jesus overcame him. How? Three times He answered, “It is written.” You need to know and use the Word of God in your encounters with temptation. The battlefield is in your mind. This is why Paul said, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2 NKJV). It’s why he wrote this to the Philippian Christians: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Php 4:8 NKJV).