Let’s look at a biblical gameplan for resisting temptation.
Romans 7:21-24
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
I went to University Heights Elementary School. There was a boy who would bully most of the other students including me. One day, I decided I had had enough. I remember accepting the challenge of meeting him after school by the dumpsters. The truth is it felt good to fight back. I know I’m not supposed to say that, but it’s true. Sometimes we sin, because we like sinning. The Apostle Paul put it this way.
Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.
Jesus was tempted, but without sin. Temptation is not evil. Remember, the wrong desires that come into our lives aren’t anything new. Many others have faced these same problems before us. God will never let us down. He’ll never let us be pushed past our limit. He’ll always be there, to help us through it. If Jesus conquered sin and death, and we are in Christ through faith, then we can have victory over every temptation that presents itself to us, but we need to be honest with ourselves. Sometimes we want to sin more than we want to obey God. If we repent for our desire to sin, before we sin, then God’s power is available to us before we give in to the sin. Remember, greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world.
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through these scriptures?