How do you rid yourself of temptation?

Zoidberg · Apr 8, 2016

I can totally relate to the whole temptation thing! I struggle so much with Internet inappropriate content, and it's only in recent months it's been easier to overcome the temptation.

The trick the devil uses for tempting me, is to make me feel like I don't deserve God's grace. Whenever I stumbled, I'd take AGES to overcome the guilt, every time. And the devil would use the lie that there's no point going back to God because his grace has run out, to keep me from even trying. Obviously a lie. I knew it, but I still doubted, which meant the temptations were easy to give into.

Eventually I overcame that by speaking scripture over my life (Romans 8:38-39 is an all-time favourite). I also found a lot of great Christian bands that had a lot to say about God's grace (check out Luminate and Matthew West).

The hardest (but also very effective) step: find yourself an accountability partner. Someone who you trust, who can pray for you, who you can talk to about your struggles, and who can ask you the tough questions to ensure you stay on the straight and narrow. I had to so much trouble with this one, the devil will try to convince you that your accountability partner will judge you, but you need to silence that voice. If you find someone you can do this with, the payoff is epic.

Lastly, whatever your temptations are, make every effort to steer well clear of it. For my own ones, I've put up web filters on any device in my house that can get online.
Computer, easy, plenty of web filters out there you can install. PS4, I just disabled the web browser using the parental lock. Passwords for both the computer filter and the PS4 are on a bit of paper at my workplace an hour from here. If I get tempted, it's gonna take me a two hour round trip just to get around it.

Biggest issue I had was my iPhone and iPad. It's way to easy to circumvent any parental locks or filters. However, I found a paid service called PageClean that will restrict any website you want, from any app, because it will stop it at a level above the apps. No matter what app I install, it's not going to those sites, because it installs a VPN it must go through. And you can't remove it without an unlock code from actual humans. Ridiculously effective!

Hope this all helps. Sorry for the long rambling post, but I'm very passionate about this!

Crump · Apr 8, 2016

Be content with what you have. Overcome desire and you will avoid temptation. You will never be free of sin but you will be less troubled by envy and covetousness.

Steve Blackburn · Apr 8, 2016

JAM2b · Apr 8, 2016

I think it impossible to be without temptation in this life. Scripture says that no temptation has seized you except for what is common to man, in other words everyone is tempted by stuff and everyone struggles. Paul called himself the chief of sinners.

We aren't supposed to just give up, but we aren't supposed to beat ourselves up about it either. If you are trying hard to avoid it, then you are doing it wrong.

I think what you need is a deeper understanding of grace and forgiveness.

Holy Dissent · Apr 8, 2016

As it always will my friend. There's no avoiding it.

Sadly, no there is no way. So long as the world is corrupted by sin there's no avoiding its effects on your body. Sickness, temptation, etc. It's all the end result of the fall.

The fact it offends you tells you that God is on your side. He's not forsaken you in this fight. You have to fight back with God. You tell your sins no more and back away from them. Make no mistake, you are at war. Every soldier fights, a soldier sticks to the mission. A soldier never gives up and may lose a battle but presses on to win the war. That is what this is. Satan is your enemy. He is chaos and God is divine. Without God and strength of heart Satan will get you every time. You have to fight against sin and temptation no matter the fallout or consequences in this world. If people leave you then so be it. It's your soul and you are the caretaker of that soul. Polish it or tarnish it is your choice and yours alone.

We all want peace my friend. If you want peace, be prepared to fight for it. God is ready and willing to fight WITH you but you must make a stand and fight.

Btw, no one here would judge you for your sins. We all sin and all sins are equal in God's eyes even if they have tiers to us mere mortals.

Nothing in life is fair. Satan wants to corrupt and twist you. You keep giving him the power by saying he's a stone cutter and you're the stone. Instead make yourself a plasma cutter and him cheese. God is your ally in this and I fear you may have forgotten this. You continue to try alone and you'll find you fail alone all the while God is sitting there waiting for you to let him take up his blade and strike.

You'll never defeat the force of temptation. You can, however, fight against it and not yield to it. Just because your captor makes a demand doesn't mean you have to comply.

Steve Blackburn · Apr 8, 2016

DeepWater · Apr 8, 2016

'Walk in the Spirit". = wont FULFILL the LUSTS of the flesh.

Remember that your NT tells you that Jesus was tempted. (plural).
So, that is how it is to live in a body of fleshly desires that has been trained by the Adamic Nature to desire pleasure.
And really, lust is simply the pull of the flesh to be pleasured.
Everyone has this issue, as that is what it means to be human... and it does not go away, and the reason it doesn't is because the "old man", that is to say your Adamic nature that is not eliminated when your SPIRIT is born again, is always there to be pleasured and will always want to be pleasured by the things your eyes and touch can find to feed it.

Your bible tell you to "reckon yourself dead to sin" and to "present your body as a living sacrifice"....and that means you understand you are "in Christ", a "new creation", and you are to function regarding your choices on a higher level of self control that continually resists the desires that your flesh-carnal mind would have you to do instead.

A simple way to think of it is this...

Inside you is a black dog and a white dog.
The black dog represents the flesh and the carnal desires, the Adamic Nature.
The white dog represents you as a "new creation", Born again Spirit.
Now what is it about a dog that you always have to do?
You have to feed them.
So, the one you decide feed, is the one that leads, and YOU have to decide every day which dog you are going to feed and let lead.
Thats how it is.
The good news, is that the Holy Spirit of God is in you to help you feed the right dog.
BUT, its up to you to decide every day, and often, every second, which you will feed.
See, you are eternally secure, BUT, you are temporarily stuck in that body, and that body has desires.
Thats life, and ever believer has this same ordeal.

One final thing.
Your salvation does not rest, nor is it maintained by which dog you choose to feed.
Your salvation rests on the Blood of Christ and THAT BLOOD ATONTMENT once applied, cant be undone by whatever particular state of mind or life you find yourself in after you are saved.
So, dont confuse being saved, with trying to be a good Christian Disciple who fails sometimes and succeeds more often.

AlexDTX · Apr 8, 2016

After reading the replies I think there are some very good suggestions and some very stupid suggestions. Temptation is not sin. The best reply came in the beginning from St. Worm-2. Temptation is a matter of your thought life, and discipleship is the process of controlling your thoughts.

The world system thrives on offering temptation. All sales pitches are temptations. But, the first step in your mindset is to stop your sin consciousness. Hebrews tells us:

1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. (Heb. 10:1-3)

It is the law that magnifies sin. Is the blood of Jesus less effective than the blood of rams and goats? The writer of Hebrews tells us that it is more effective. You are dwelling on sin because you are living under the law, not grace. God does not impute sin to you so why do you impute sin to your self? That does not mean sin does not exist nor am I saying we should ignore sin when temptation comes. Paul told Timothy to flee the love of money, (1 Tim. 6:11), which is another temptation. So we flee lust just as Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife.

Every congregation that has a paid pastoral staff and rents or owns a building to meet in emphasizes the law because they can not run a business without doing so. Consider what they are teaching, and you will see the emphasis on the law mixed with grace which James indirectly warned against (James 3:8-13).

If you do not think on sin you will not be tempted. Consider what James said.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. (James 1:13-15).

Your lust exists on two levels: your mind and your heart. Your mind means your conscious thoughts and your heart means your subconscious thoughts. These two levels differ. Your mind can be controlled. Your heart is controlled by experiential changes. Proverbs says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). The context of the verse is a caution to beware of who you are with, because their words can be flattery but their heart can be deception and destruction towards you. What we are is at the heart level. What we believe is at the heart level. Our actions reveal the true thoughts of our hearts because what we do is driven from the heart, and from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34).

So the issue is to back track. Consider what you say and do. Keep every thought captive that is obedient to Christ and cast out with a readiness of revenge every thought and high imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5 & 6).

Avoid temptation when it draws near to you, rejecting those thoughts of temptation begins the process of the change of heart. But the heart is not changed immediately most of the time. This is a work of the Holy Spirit. He sees the tangled knots of lies that twist your heart knowledge of life that your heart believes and knows what it takes to untie them for your deliverance.

It will be experiences directed by the Lord that will untie those knots in your heart. I have shared this on other threads, but it bears repeating.

I was delivered from sexual lust over a 8 or 9 year period. I had lust when I married my wife, so I am not blaming her. However, I had abstained from acting on the lust and fought the fight of keeping those thoughts out of my mind. We both were near 40 when we married. I wanted to have children, but she wanted to wait. After 3 years of marriage she agreed to try to have children. But it was too late. She had to have a hysterectomy and my dreams of having children was dashed. I knew that divorce was not an option, nor was adultery. But I wanted children so much I turned to inappropriate contentography to imagine have children though younger women. I knew this was wrong, so I told both her, a pastoral friend and another friend about my struggle in the hope of being held accountable. The truth is, people don't really want to take on that role and none of them held me accountable.

But God held me accountable. Every time I masturbated to inappropriate content bad things happened to me and my wife. God did not make bad things happen to her, but we are one flesh and what happened to me happened to her. I love my wife and grieved knowing I was the cause of harm in her life, although she was not aware of it. It was this that motivated me to stop my behavior. I had to recognize that neither God nor my wife were the cause of our childlessness. God wants everyone to have children. My wife wanted to have children after she was assured of our marriage. It was the result of this fallen world through entropy that causes the deterioration of our bodies by ageing.

While lust was in my heart before marriage it was something that was established through childhood masturbation, it was the grief of not having children that caused me to act upon it. It was also the grief I recognized I was causing my wife that brought the experiential repentance that delivered me from those knots in my heart.

This may not be encouraging, but my point is that you have to keep your mind on godly things and allow the Holy Spirit the time He needs to free your heart from your particular knots that bring you temptation. Rest assured, He will do that if you keep your trust in his ability and not your own. Trusting your ability is the law and it always fails. His grace is more than sufficient for all of us.

aiki · Apr 8, 2016

Paul the apostle wrote a great deal about the struggle you're having. It's a very common one. He wrote,

Galatians 5:17
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

Sound familiar? Paul knew very well the struggle you've described. He goes into some detail about it in Romans 7:14-25. But he doesn't just describe the problem with the flesh, he offers a solution.

Galatians 5:16
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

What does Paul mean by "walk in the Spirit"? Well, it might help understanding what he means by looking at what he wrote later on in the same chapter:

Galatians 5:25
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

What's the difference between living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit? If a person is saved, they are placed in the Body of Christ, adopted into God's family, by being indwelt by God's Spirit. It is in the Person of the Holy Spirit that we have new life in Christ (Ro. 8:14-17). But we can be part of God's family, a joint-heir with Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, which is what Paul means by "living in the Spirit," and not be living under the control and power of the Spirit, which is what Paul means by "walking in the Spirit." It's the difference between relationship and fellowship. The Prodigal Son was always a son; that is, he was always the child of his father, however badly he lived. He had a relationship with his father that was unbreakable. But while he was off mucking about wasting his inheritance he had no fellowship with his father. It wasn't until he returned home humbled and contrite and was willing to live under his father's authority that they could enjoy fellowship with one another.

Walking in the Spirit, then, is going beyond being connected or related to God through the Spirit to being led by the Spirit.

Romans 8:13-14
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

So, when Paul says to "walk in the Spirit" so that you will not fulfull the lusts of the flesh, he means live in constant submission or surrender to the will and way (be led) of the Holy Spirit. When we live this way, the flesh may be "mortified" or put to death and the struggle with temptation ceases to be an endless line of failure but more and more an experience of spiritual victory!

This submission to God is spoken of all throughout the New Testament:

Romans 6:13
13 Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Romans 6:19
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

James 4:6-10
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:6
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

Romans 12:1
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

What does it mean to surrender, to submit, to God? Jesus explains:

Matthew 16:24-25
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Many believers want to be free of temptation but they want also to be free of God's total control; they want God's joy, and peace, and love, but they don't want His authority, His sovereignty, His will and way; they want His guidance and power, but they don't want His unilateral rule. But there is no victory for the believer until there is surrender. We cannot reach great heights with God until we first get low before Him. The way up with God is down. A great old hymn explains:

You have longed for sweet peace,
And for faith to increase,
And have earnestly, fervently prayed;
But you cannot have rest,
Or be perfectly blessed,
Until all on the altar is laid.

Refrain:
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blessed,
And have peace and sweet rest,
As you yield Him your body and soul.

Temptation is our training ground as believers. It is necessary for building in us proper spiritual reflexes, for deepening our faith, and keeping us ever submitted to the Spirit. Temptation also shows us just how weak we are apart from God and presses us to Him for His support and strength. Paul explains:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

One other thing I would add: You are already dead to sin. Whether it feels like it or not, the moment you were born-again, you were made "dead to sin and alive unto God." As you live in submission to the will and way of the Spirit, and reckon your death to sin to be so, the Spirit will bring this spiritual truth into your daily experience.

Romans 6:6-8
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

Your struggle with temptation will begin to dissolve as you, in a position of surrender to God, begin by faith to count on this being true of you.

Romans 6:11-12
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Sin has no power over you. You are dead to it. It's time to start telling yourself this truth and by faith reckoning it to be so. As you do, you will begin to experience the power of this truth in your life.

A final bit of advice:

Romans 13:12-14
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

An alcoholic shouldn't be walking by the bar; a net inappropriate content addict shouldn't be online; a drug addict shouldn't be anywhere near drugs. Make no provision for your flesh, brother.

Selah.

Steve Blackburn · Apr 8, 2016

Oh man Shadow my brother... I hear ya, temptation sucks. The short answer to your question:

"How can someone make temptation stop? It's like a sickness that does not go away.."

Jesus WILL take away our struggles and temptations, once we have renewed and perfect bodies. Do not listen to anyone who tells you that the temptations will end here on earth. That is a dangerous thing to believe. Think of temptation like resistance training for our spirit. As Christians we want to become stronger spiritually right? Asking God to rid us of temptations is like throwing away the weights in the gym. We would never get stronger, the better question to ask is "how can I become stronger, how can I begin to over come my temptations?" There is no easy way around it, just like wanting to become stronger physically, you have to put in the work. Here's a few points that I keep in mind for myself that I believe would be life changing for you.

1. I was once again asking God about 4 months ago, why He wouldn't just take this away from me. It's obviously His will for me to not sin, so I'm obviously not asking for something that He wouldn't want. I was telling Him how I've battled this sin for most of my life. You know what He told me? He said "Ignoring, hiding, and hoping an enemy will go away is not the same as going to battle with the enemy". That changed my life. I've always been trying to deal with it on my own, but you can't. I immediately knew I had to confess my struggle and did with the guys in my cell group. I addressed my sin, acknowledged it, faced it head on, and got the support I needed from other believers. My life, although still not yet perfect in that area, has changed significantly since that day.

2. You can't surprise, shock, or impress God. He created you. He knows when you're going to succeed, and when you're going to fall. He knows our struggles. The worst thing we can do is allow a fall to put us into a state of shame where we sit and allow that guilt to prevent us from going to God. We need to perfect the art of rebounding, getting back up after a fall, and trying again to the best of our ability.

3. We need an eternal mindset. We have to be able to think, in a million years from now when I'm living in glory with my loving heavenly Father in perfection, and I look back at these 80-100 years that I lived on earth, how big of a deal are my struggles going to seem? our lives are a fleeting moment and though our struggle might seem so huge and feel like they're never going to end, really, it's but a short time. Even if we're NEVER fully rescued from our struggles in this lifetime we need to be able to say to God "I will still fight and serve you to the best of my ability".

Think of life as a basketball game. You are on the worst team ever, playing the best team ever. You're down 100-0... How would you feel.. "what's the point" right? Well then Jesus enters the game and scores 100,000,000 points. Then he looks at you and says "go get in there and try to score another one". You say "But Jesus, I'll fail, I've never made a basket yet. I keep trying but I always fail". Jesus says "I've already won the game, just go and try your best". How much pressure would you feel at that moment? Knowing that no matter how you do, as long as you DO YOUR BEST that the game is already one. Jesus doesn't expect you to make every shot, he expects you to shoot! You're going to miss most, if not all at first... Keep shooting!! Then eventually you'll sink one, and it's going to feel great... Then maybe you'll miss another 100 again.. But the more you shoot, the more you'll start getting in and the more confidence you'll get. But it requires the foot work. You can either go out there and shoot and aim to get better, or you can hang up your jersey and walk off the team.. I encourage you brother, join the rest of us who are sinking only 1/210 shots. Practice with us, get better with us, and together with the Jesus' mercy and grace, we will make it... Bloodied, bruised, battered, and worn... but we will make it, and when we do, we will be smiling for all eternity

Find strength in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit my brother. Renew your mind daily. Get into the word, even when you don't feel like it. Go slowly through the word. Make notes on what speaks to you. If you don't have anyone that you trust to talk to about your struggles, you are more than welcome to contact me. steveblackburn@me.com

Holy Dissent · Apr 8, 2016

I'm sorry dchezik but you're wrong and here's why. I'll address it below.

No...not baloney.

Okay, reading into Romans it gives clear and definite ramifications on the force of sin.

Romans 8:20-21 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

So by that reasoning, the creation of God was subjected to "frustration". That was the force of sin entering the world. God created the world in a way where sin was not a factor. Following Romans still all of creation has the hope of being liberated from bondage to "decay".

So what does that mean?

Anything that decays in creation was not meant to in the beginning. The will of the one who subjected creation to suffering was the original sin of man creating the force of sin, the origination of decay. So anything that decays normally uses a process of decomposition that normally involves organisms such as fungus and/or bacteria depending on the process (there are more organisms involved in this but I'm not getting into it).

So the origination of sickness and decay and even things that separate us from God (such as temptation) derive from the first original sin. I'm sorry to say you're wrong to the degree that you imply sin plays no part. If sin brought into this world decay. Then that decay created by sin (heralded by man who subjected all creation to it) is the reason for all forms of suffering and "frustration" including temptation.

Next.

The fact it offends you tells you that God is on your side. He's not forsaken you in this fight. You have to fight back with God. You tell your sins no more and back away from them.

(quote from dchezik)
[Sins are not conscious, sentient entities, you can't talk to sins. You can't back away from them they are part of your nature.]

Click to expand...

No they are not conscious sentient entities. They are a force fired from the enemy. They are everything that separates us from God. They are the things that Satan has confused you into thinking is your nature. You need to remember that while Jesus was born sinless he still had the choice, the absolute CHOICE, to sin at anytime thereafter. He withstood temptation and bore the sins of others to such a degree that no one could ever understand and he STILL remained sinless. He was tempted by Lucifer HIMSELF. Not any of these cloak and dagger temptation nudges here and there...LUCIFER. Jesus conquered sin in his lifetime everyday which means you can believe it is part of your nature to sin but it is a deception from Satan that you are a sinful creation. When you are reborn as a son/daughter of God your spirit is clean and you have God on your side. Every day is a choice. Sin or don't sin. You can make the conscious choice to abstain from sin (a very hard thing to do) or you can sin (because people would rather ask for forgiveness than permission anyways).

Like I said before in a previous post. Just because we are enslaved to the force of sin doesn't mean we have to bow to it. Just because my captor demands me to kill someone doesn't mean I have to just because he said to. Same with sin. Just because temptation tells me to have sex with every good looking woman I see doesn't mean I go and do it.

We weren't created as a sinful creation. We were created perfect. While we are born with sin because of the fall we can still choose our paths. That means we can follow the path riddled with sin or we can choose to follow the much narrower and most difficult path and abstain from sin completely. God's gift of our free will gives us this choice. It was the same choice that Jesus had. He prevailed and he was very much human like all of us are with the only added effect that he knew he was God's son. That didn't stop his temptations from being any less harrowing.

Btw, no one here would judge you for your sins. We all sin and all sins are equal in God's eyes even if they have tiers to us mere mortals.

(Quote from dchezik)
[How do you figure? Child molesting and murder is as bad to God as not washing the dishes when you promised you would?]

Click to expand...

All sin is detested by God and to no degree is one more favorable than the other. Your mortal mind with your mortal feelings and emotions relegates all sin to tiers because you can't fathom all sin being equal but since all sin, no matter the sin, separates us from God and bars our entry to heaven without forgiveness and grace God views sin as universal without any tiers other than blasphemy of the holy spirit which is considered unforgivable.

Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God.

James 2:10-11: For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

Romans 3:10: For none is righteous, none, not one.

I John 3:15: Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is DEATH (That applies to all sin)

There is no one punishment greater for the sin you commit than another. All of it lands you in the furnace and all of it ends in eternal torment should you not have the forgiveness and grace of God to save you.

So you're understandably mistaken on this part.

But lest you also forget that you will never judge anyone, as per God's command, you'll be just as guilty in the end. Also, even child molesters, murderers, rapists, philanderers, thieves, prostitutes, etc., etc. will be forgiven and you are called to forgive them as God would. So you can view all sins as different. It doesn't stop God from viewing them all in the same light. The one thing that leaves us barred from heaven and separated from him.

Jan001 · Apr 8, 2016

You are not alone. Many saints had struggles such as yours. They are saints now in heaven because they eventually victoriously overcame their temptations.

I've memorized the following and now I immediately think of it when I am tempted:

"You cannot be tempted by things that you do not think about."

As soon as I am aware of the temptation, I very deliberately think about something else that is good to think about.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, 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. nkjv

DrHoffm · Apr 8, 2016

Three Practical Ways to Overcome Temptation:

1.Stay in the Word of God, every day - get excited about it.

2.Start a ministry helping others in the church and community. (You'll get so busy you won't have time to struggle.)

3.Be sincere -- God will not be mocked. (Galatians 6:7 - Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.)

Three Practical Scriptures to Overcome Temptation:

1 Timothy 6:11
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

2 Timothy 2:22
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Follow this everyday and you shall be a successful overcomer.

/dmh, Blessings,
24hotpotatoes.blogspot.ca
Scriptures quoted from the King James Bible
.

Llewelyn · Apr 8, 2016

Reckon yourself dead to sin. That's the Scriptural secret God gave me in my teenage years and was fully appreciated in my 30s.

When temptation came I spoke to it and said I'm dead to that. I died to it with Christ and was buried by baptism. Dead men don't do. They just lie in the grave and rot. So, sorry, I'm dead and am unable to do that.

The temptation still came but its power over me was broken and I could walk away by faith in the name of Jesus.

Learning curve? Yes, but it was successful.

Another helpful Scripture was about my heart and what it treasures.

I would ask, is it for this earth or the next? [I particularly used this with sexual lust.] This? Sorry, I'm only interested in investing in the next. Goodbye.

I publically own my faith in every place. It is commonly known I am a Christian.

RisenInJesus · Apr 8, 2016

Where does the Bible say that? I think it says one becomes estranged from Christ and falls from grace only when they go back to attempting to be righteous by keeping the law (Gal. 5;4). I think that according to the scriptures, when a person has placed their faith in Jesus the Savior for forgiveness they are born again and risen to new life (Romans 6; 2 Cor. 5:17). So I don't see how a believer can be unborn and lose their salvation. I think realizing one's position in Christ and believing God's Word that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ brings tremendous victory over sin in our lives.
Nevertheless, this life on earth is a battle which even Paul experienced and recorded for our awareness, therefore the need for continual, closeness and dependence on the Lord through prayer, honest confession, and transformation of our minds and thoughts through reading and believing His word.

Kutte · Apr 8, 2016

Temptations are needed and will continue to be with us for testing are character strength. Jesus too had to cope with temptations and praying not to be led into temptations did not help him either.
As for me, I always give in to temptations for Danish butter cookies with milk.

God bless

Root of Jesse · Apr 8, 2016

It is true that we are tested to the best of Satan's ability, and that he will keep on doing it. But God will not give us challenges that we are incapable of overcoming. Mostly by bending to His will. You obviously know your weaknesses, too. Can I tell you that the best athletes in the world know their strengths and weaknesses, and with help from coaches, strive to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. By doing this they bcome free. Michael Jordan couldn't make his high school basketball team, so he asked the coach why. He was told that the coach had better free throw shooters. So MJ began that day to complete 500 freethrows every day. Not attempt, but complete. He learned that by working on his weaknesses, he became strong. I hope this helps.

dms1972 · Apr 8, 2016

You're expressing something every christian would want - to be free from temptation. But it not something we are told we will be free from in this life.

We are told no temptation has seized us except what is common to man, so its not a question of being 'very spiritual', but obviously we do face more temptation than before becoming christian.

But we are also told we are given grace to stand up under it, and a Way of Escape.

http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/10-13.htm

I have had a ongoing battle over the years in at least a couple of areas, and sometimes I have been quite stuck in a pattern of besetting sin. I can't claim a total victory, and would be a fool to assume I was kept from sin by my own moral resolve.

CS Lewis said that the first thing we are helped toward is simply getting up again when we fall.

There are good resources in terms of pastoral care out there.

For instance Leanne Payne's book Restoring the Christian Soul is one of the finest - there is a chapter about this very question in that book : Self-hatred: the Traitor within when Temptation comes.

Another good resource I have come across is the Teaching Ministry of Clay and Mary McLean.

http://www.mcleanministries.org/

I was given the following as a photocopy by a Pastor when I opened up about my difficulties and I have found it helpful - its called the ANTHEM strategy, by John Piper

ANTHEM - Strategies for fighting Lust

I have in mind men and women. For men it’s obvious. The need for warfare against the bombardment of visual temptation to fixate on sexual images is urgent. For women it is less obvious, but just as great if we broaden the scope of temptation to food or figure or relational fantasies. When I say “lust” I mean the realm of thought, imagination, and desire that leads to sexual misconduct. So here is one set of strategies in the war against wrong desires. I put it in the form of an acronym, A N T H E M.

A – AVOID as much as is possible and reasonable the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire. I say “possible and reasonable” because some exposure to temptation is inevitable. And I say “unfitting desire” because not all desires for sex, food, and family are bad. We know when they are unfitting and unhelpful and on their way to becoming enslaving. We know our weaknesses and what triggers them. “Avoiding” is a biblical strategy. “Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness” (2 Timothy 2:22). “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

N – Say NO to every lustful thought within five seconds. And say it with the authority of Jesus Christ. “In the name of Jesus, NO!” You don’t have much more than five seconds. Give it more unopposed time than that, and it will lodge itself with such force as to be almost immovable. Say it out loud if you dare. Be tough and warlike. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Strike fast and strike hard. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

T – TURN the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction. Saying “no” will not suffice. You must move from defense to offense. Fight fire with fire. Attack the promises of sin with the promises of Christ. The Bible calls lusts “deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22). They lie. They promise more than they can deliver. The Bible calls them “passions of your former ignorance” (1 Peter 1:14). Only fools yield. “All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter” (Proverbs 7:22). Deceit is defeated by truth. Ignorance is defeated by knowledge. It must be glorious truth and beautiful knowledge. This is why I wrote [Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ](http://www.desiringgod.org/books/seeing-and-savoring-jesus-christ). We must stock our minds with the superior promises and pleasures of Jesus. Then we must turn to them immediately after saying, “NO!”

H – HOLD the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out. “Fix your eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). Here is where many fail. They give in too soon. They say, “I tried to push it out, and it didn’t work.” I ask, “How long did you try? How hard did you exert your mind?” The mind is a muscle. You can flex it with vehemence. Take the kingdom violently (Matthew 11:12). Be brutal. Hold the promise of Christ before your eyes. Hold it. Hold it! Don’t let it go! Keep holding it! How long? As long as it takes. Fight! For Christ’s sake, fight till you win! If an electric garage door were about to crush your child, you would hold it up with all your might and holler for help, and hold it and hold it and hold it and hold it.

E – ENJOY a superior satisfaction. Cultivate the capacities for pleasure in Christ. One reason lust reigns in so many is that Christ has so little appeal. We default to deceit because we have little delight in Christ. Don’t say, “That’s just not me.” What steps have you taken to waken affection for Jesus? Have you fought for joy? Don’t be fatalistic. You were created to treasure Christ with all your heart — more than you treasure sex or sugar. If you have little taste for Jesus, competing pleasures will triumph. Plead with God for the satisfaction you don’t have: “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14). Then look, look, look at the most magnificent Person in the universe until you see him the way he is.

M – MOVE into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors. Lust grows fast in the garden of leisure. Find a good work to do, and do it with all your might. “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11). “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Abound in work. Get up and do something. Sweep a room. Hammer a nail. Write a letter. Fix a faucet. And do it for Jesus’s sake. You were made to manage and create. Christ died to make you “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). Displace deceitful lusts with a passion for good deeds.

I hope there is something there that will help. God Bless.

Goatee · Apr 8, 2016

Jesus did say that the way is narrow. We know it is not easy. We know we have crosses to carry.

To follow Jesus one must be prepared to suffer.

Dont give up. Dont be disappointed if you fall over. Get up with Gods help and carry on in your journey of love for God.

Remember, God is always there carrying you. He wants us to soldier on through the ups and downs of life with him in our hearts, minds and souls!

Jesus came to save sinners!

God bless you

stuart lawrence · Apr 8, 2016

No human can be perfect in their flesh. If they could, Jesus need not have died at Calvary. I used to feel exactly the same as you do now. But at that time I didn't know or understand Paul's message:
For sin shall no longer be your master, for you are not under law but under grace rom 6:14
Many people can write books on how to overcome sin but Paul tells us in seventeen words.
When you muster all your strength with clenched fists as it were and determine with all your might to be perfectly pure and sinless, the sin will hit you with a vengeance and leave you feeling dirty, useless, a failure and miserable.
You are not alone, the Apostle Paul was just the same prior to conversion to Christianity.
The power to overcome is in the truth of grace
God bless

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