Practical Tips For Avoiding Temptation

God promises to supply what we need to overcome temptation.  He will empower us to keep on the right path even during difficult times of temptation.  What God starts, God will finish.  Where we are weak, God will show Himself strong on our behalf.  The most powerful strategy for overcoming temptation is reminding ourselves, as often as necessary, that God’s grace is sufficient to meet all our needs.

Some practical ways we can express our trust in God’s care and move beyond temptation:

·        Recognize what is going on – the devil is trying to destroy us.  Do we want him to succeed, or do we want victory over Him?

·        Stop obsessing on whatever is tempting us and pray instead.  Ask God for strength, healing, comfort, and insight.

·        Reach out for support and solutions.  Seek help until we connect with someone who can help.

·        Be willing to see any problem in perspective.  We need to consider the positive outcome of handling a problem as soon as it arises.  We also need to see the negative consequences that will result from avoiding or mishandling a problem.  One fleeting moment of pleasure may have a high cost.

·        Distract ourselves with healthy thoughts and choose, just for one day, to believe God’s word and act accordingly.  One day quickly grows to two and then a week, a month, a year, and even a lifetime.  

Prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” Amen (Matthew 6:9-13 NIV)

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