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Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Overcoming Temptations to Sin


     The flesh trying to overcome the spirit and keep it subdued is a common experience for all Christians, in some form or the other. Not everyone may have the same temptations, or fantasies, or reasons for despair; but in some form or the other, Satan keeps attacking us and tries his utmost to weaken us, to render us less effective in our Christian life and responsibilities, to cause us to suffer loss of our blessings, and to malign the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and His Word – the Bible, before the world through sin in our life, behavior, attitude and witness. That is why the Word of God exhorts us to be always on our guard and to give no place to Satan, in any manner, so that he is not able to get an upper hand against us.

    Please read and meditate upon Romans 6 to get a Biblical perspective and solution for the problem of sin in a Christian Believer’s life. The solution is not merely praying and resisting, it is in preventing Satan and his angels from getting a foothold in any manner in our lives. To this end, God’s Word the Bible provides us the required guidance. Remember, Satan can neither compel nor make us sin, he can only tempt and seduce us to commit sin; but to act according to that temptation or seduction and commit an act of sin is ultimately our choice and action. Even for the very first sin, committed in the Garden of Eden, the same held true; and for every sin of commission committed by any person anywhere on earth it still holds true just as well. The Lord Jesus said: “There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.” “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7: 15, 20-23). And therein lies the problem and its solution – what we allow to enter and to dwell within our hearts and our minds, and then what it makes us to do. Nothing can enter in on its own; we not only have to allow it to enter, but also take the required steps for it to enter and stay within us.

    The way to counter to this tendency of allowing the base and sinful things of the world into our lives has been given to us by the Holy Spirit, for our help and guidance through the Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 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. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4: 4-9).

    In other words, what we need to do to overcome the tendency to sin, (stating in the same chronological sequence as given above), is as follows:
·            Always have an attitude of praise and worship towards the Lord – at all times, for all things. This will keep your mind focused on the continual presence of the Lord with you, as well as keep you from entertaining sinful thoughts. Remember, before it manifests in works and deeds, it all starts in the mind, in thoughts! (James 1:14-16). Keep your mind, thoughts, and heart from harboring sinful things and the problem is quenched at its very point of inception. The subsequent points tell us how to achieve this.
·            Exhibit your ‘gentleness’ to all; i.e. actively witness for the Lord to the world about your faith through your life. It will be difficult for you to say one thing publicly and then go and do another, more so, if you make it a habit to keep on witnessing in some way or the other, time and again. Your witnessing about your faith and Lord is a God ordained means of overcoming Satan (Revelation 12:11), for it will keep you motivated to practice what you preach.
·            Shun anxiety, have faith, and be thankful to God for everything – even the seemingly problematic and painful, or the non-understandable ones too. Satan cannot draw away a person attached and dependent upon God; he can only sow seeds of doubt in you if you distance yourself from the Lord and His Word. Satan came to Eve when she was near the forbidden fruit, and created a doubt in her mind against God. Had she not been near the forbidden fruit, he could not have succeeded in his attempts, since she wouldn’t have had the chance to mull over and put to test what he was saying. Her entertaining doubts and showing a lack of faith in the provisions of God is what did her in. Similarly, whenever we doubt God and His intentions about our welfare, entertain ideas of being able to achieve better on our own, or feel drawn to try out what God has forbidden, we then lay ourselves open to Satan’s devices and deviousness (2 Corinthians 2:11). So stay away from those things, people, time, opportunities, and situations etc. which will draw you away from God and tempt, induce or challenge you to sin. Simultaneously, stay in the company of Christian Believers, stay attached to God’s Word, stay active in Christian work and responsibilities, and stay involved in things – physical and mental, that promote a healthy Christian life and witness.
·            Fill your mind and heart with all Biblical things; meditate upon them, listen to or read the Bible as often as you can to keep your mind from wandering to evil things (Colossians 3:15-17). Use your free time to listen to gospel and Christian songs and hymns. Take up a prayer list, and pray for people in whatever time you have at hand. Ask some Christian friend(s) to help you and be with you, to talk with you, to keep you occupied in a worthy manner, so that you simply don’t have the time to think about, let alone indulge in anything inappropriate or sinful. You in turn can do the same for somebody else who may be struggling with a similar problem, and the two of you can together lift yourselves out of this problem (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
·            Take time to read the biographies and stories of great men of God, and learn from their struggles to reach where they did, and achieve what they could. Use them as role models and emulate their ways to overcome sin and temptations, since they too had to struggle against Satan’s ploys in their journey to the greatness they could achieve.

    It would also be very helpful if for some time you can put away your laptop/desktop/mobile phone etc. so that you cannot be drawn to use them inappropriately, till the bad habits, desires and tendencies are broken and overcome. You can use a phone with a small screen and a very low memory and processor, only as a means of communication and conversation, but unable to play any games or display any graphics on it. Similarly, if you really do have to use the laptop/computer, do so in the presence of family members or some other responsible people whose presence will ensure that you do not indulge in the prurient.
In short, prevent and ensure Satan from having a toe-hold in your life, keep in constant touch with God through prayer, worship, meditating upon portions from the Bible, and fellowshipping with other Christians; then Satan will not be able to draw you away from God into anything lustful or sinful.