Noticing patterns of giving in to temptation

[PrayerInProgress]

I just wanted to share something that I've noticed in my healing walk with Jesus. There is always the possibility that when I am trying to avoid certain behaviors, that concentrating too hard on the nature of the problem (what I want to change) rather than focusing completely on the solution (increased faith and trust in Jesus Christ) can trigger relapses.

I have found that this can apply to other problems in life as well. As an example of how this can apply to another area of struggle: sometimes I get unhappy with myself for eating to many sweets, so I ask God in my prayers to help me resist my temptations in order to have a more healthy temple. So I pray that I will not give in to the temptation to overeat things that are not healthy for me. However, somtimes I find that my thoughts throughout my day are concentrated on avoiding chocolate, rather than praising God for all the other things He has blessed me with. When I do that I find myself thinking about chocolate all day long rather than thinking about Him and how I can be a better servant. It's like the subject of what I'm praying about occupies my thoughts more than my Savior.

I know that it is sometimes this way for me and it's a pattern that I'm praying God will help me to recognize so that I can change this way of thinking....again, not for the sole purpose of simply changing the behavior, but for honoring Him more by giving up my sinful desires of the flesh. I know also that compared to many of you here, I am a mere newby in my walk with the Lord. But I thought I'd share it with the rest of you just in case it had not been mentioned before.

So for me, I have noticed that concentrating too much on the problem at hand and not enough on God can sometimes lead me off the path that I should be on and on to the path of temptation.

God bless everyone and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this!

 

[ido]

Great post. There is a saying that I am fond of - "Don't pray for patience or God will give you opportunities to practice it." I think of this one often with my kiddos.

You are right that we should keep our focus on the end goal - not the obstacles that are currently keeping us from it.

 

[PrayerInProgress]

Thanks for replying Flnativegrl!

That exactly sums up what I was hoping to say.....about focusing on the goal, not the obstacles. I guess I get to wordy in my posts......it took me 2 full paragraphs to explain what you summarized perfectly in just one sentence!!! Anyway, thanks for that great quote and I like it so much I think I'll put that on my signature.

Speaking of triggers, I have a question that hopefully you can answer. I can only imagine that this probably happens to people with other problems like self-esteeem and addictions, but I have noticed that the adversary seems to hit me with temptation especially when I am feeling down about myself such as when I'm feeling like a failure or if I feel rejected. In this case when this happens, I have been trying to spend my entire day in prayer (as much as possible) as well as doing more things that don't concentrate so much on feeling sorry or bad for myself and I try to count all my blessings and find ways to help others. But at other times when I am feeling more blessed and un-tempted, I tend to pray for God to heal me from letting external events affect my feelings and faith. Would this be an example of focusing to much on the obstacles?

Thanks very much!
P.I.P.

 

[Lemmiwinks]

So for me, I have noticed that concentrating too much on the problem at hand and not enough on God can sometimes lead me off the path that I should be on and on to the path of temptation.

Right, its like if someone tells me "Don't think about the purple elephant in the room" I will automatically start picturing a purple elephant in the room.

Think about whatever is holy, whatever is pure, whatever is good, etc. In other words, it is better to get your mind off of your temptations, because thinking about your temptations only serves to bind you to them even more.

 

[Lemmiwinks]

For me the thing that always makes me relapse is insomnia. After a few days abstaining, I can't sleep.

 

[louie44]

I want to thank you. You just gave me the solution to my problems.
Many Thanks & God bless you
Louie44

 

[C-hope]

Thanks a lot for letting me gain new insight into my problem. Battling the giving in stage is what gives a lot of momentum to beating homosexual behavior.