I Struggle To Resist Temptation, What Should I Do?
I receive regular emails from people seeking help in their spiritual lives. If you’d like to send an email in, you may do so here.
A few weeks ago I received an email regarding temptation, from a man named John, with his permission, I wanted to share his question and my response, in hopes that it would encourage you. Here is John’s question:
Please pray for me Josh. After a long season of fighting sin, I feel that I am not able to get back into the flow of resisting temptation. I feel almost as getting tempted over and over again. Please pray that God filters my life with purity and reject what the earthly world offers. Thanks. -John
Sin is a game of pleasure
Hi John, Thank you for writing your message and risking being honest with me. I hear you asking “what do I do when I find myself weak against temptation?” I pray this message is helpful.
I know how difficult it can be to struggle towards obedience. Some days sins whisper is so silky smooth. Offering us many promises that are attractive to our weary and beaten down souls. One of the most helpful habits in combating sin in my life has been to cultivate faith in God’s promises. We often believe the lies of sin and forget the promises of God because our faith is small. So, we need to increase our faith to do battle with temptation.
When sin seems too good to leave behind
“This sounds good, Josh. But the problem is, I still, if I’m honest, love my sin.” Ah, this is where the difficulty lies, is it not? It’s called temptation for a reason. Like a mouse drawn to the cheese, we are lured by our affections.
The difficulty comes, as posed in your question, when the sin seems so attractive that we wrestle with ourselves: "I don't want to fling it off, because it's got a piece of my heart. I still.... love.... it." But this is why you must see the connection between faith and fighting temptation. The reason you give into temptation is because it’s offering you a pleasure. And to the degree you believe sins promises (that it will make you happy, satisfied, complete) you sin. To the degree you, in faith, believe God’s way is better and He is King and He is not against you with his laws, you pick obedience.
Your ability to fight sin hinges on one thing. Your faith.
Choosing obedience over sin is an act of faith, this is why it’s an important weapon in the lure of temptation. Faith is a sword that kills temptation. Because in faith we believe the promises of God over the pleasurable lies of sin.
“Choosing obedience over sin is an act of faith”
The word as a sword
In Ephesians 6 Paul talks about the armor of God. The only offensive weapon listed is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” So, if after I read Hebrews 12 I was tempted to sin. To use the Word as a sword could look like me saying: "the fleeting pleasures of sin will not compare to joy in You God, and though I do not presently see that clearly in the midst of temptation, I will act in obedience and believe your promises to be true. I am to have endurance, like you said in Hebrews 12. Jesus, you fought off temptation. You did not give in. Please grant me the faith to do this and to follow you in obedience."
Speak to your temptations. Use the Word to kill them. We are far too passive with our sin.
i need practical, please.
That sounds great in theory, but how does it translate to real actionable steps you can take today? To cultivate faith, we must place ourselves in places for God to increase our faith. Primarily this happens in time spent with Him in His word. I’ll give you an example:
I was reading Hebrews this morning, chapters 11-12. I'd commend them both to you. I’d like to share one section of it that bolstered my faith when I read it:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. - Hebrews 12
From this text, here are three practical things we can do when we find our faith small and our obedience lacking:"
1- look at the faith of others
"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin..." This great cloud of witnesses is mentioned in the previous chapter. It is a list of people in the Bible who exercised faith in amazing ways, trusting God when their circumstances told them not to. This is helpful for us. We need to see stories of people, in faith, choosing obedience. Meditate on their stories because their story is the same battle we face with temptation.
“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” (Heb 11:24-26)
Moses was tempted not to believe God, but in faith, he trusted even when it was hard. It will embolden our faith if we will look and meditate on their stories, so we can "fling off our sins and weights".
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2- faith comes from God, not self
Recognize that this faith is not conjured up from within but that "looking to Jesus, the founder, and perfecter of our faith," We get faith from Jesus, but this does not absolve our responsibility to cultivate it. Just as a farmer does not cause growth from his seeds, so we cannot create faith. But we can nurture it, cultivate it, place our hearts in the proper places to receive.
Dwell with God. Meditate on Jesus on the cross, lovingly dying for your sins. Sitting with Christ will increase our faith. We must do this before temptation hits. Not during.
3-the powerful result of considering
In doing all of this, as it says: "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." - in considering (which is steps 1 and 2) we will "not grow weary or fainthearted" in choosing obedience.
Cultivate deeper fellowship with God. Submit yourself to daily scripture reading where you can see stories of faith. And as you do, God will stoke the wood and the tinder of your soul which will burn with a greater affection. As your pleasure in God rises, sins draw will grow strangely dim. This is how we combat temptation in our lives.
Blessings brother,
Josh.
If you, like John, are struggling. Don’t hesitate to reach out. Click here to email me.
