God does not promise that we will never be tempted, but that when we are, He will provide a way of escape. However, there are things that we can do as a Christian to avoid unnecessary temptation. Many times temptation can be completely avoided by following these simple tips.
Pray
In the model prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples in Matthew 6, He taught them to ask God to lead them away from temptation (Matthew 6:13). A daily relationship with God in prayer is a first step to avoiding temptation.
Use the Word of God
There are many good verses that will help you overcome certain temptations. Memorizing Bible verses targeted to combat your areas of temptation will be a protection and defense. 2 Corinthians 10:4 and 5 talk about pulling down things that get a stronghold in our life.
You need to work on memorizing a list of Bible verses that will help you avoid temptation. You cannot rely on finding a Bible at the moment of temptation. These verses have to become second nature to you.
Spend time in God’s word daily. Make it a habit. By knowing you will be confronted by the Bible in your reading tomorrow it can help you stay focused on God today.
Understand Your Pe
Not everyone is tempted in the same way. What is a struggle for one person may not be the least bit tempting to another person. For example one person may be tempted with smoking. For the next guy, smoking has never had a foothold on the person and therefore is not at all tempting.
James 1:14 says that we are drawn away with our own lusts. This indicates that each person has their own weak areas to deal with. You need to understand your own weakness so that you will know how to combat and avoid it.
Flee Temptation
God has promised to make a way to escape temptation. If you will look for the escape route then you can flee the temptation. Many times this way of escape is to literally walk (or run) away. Temptation often comes when you find yourself in certain situations or places. When you recognize one of those situations it is time to pack up your stuff and get out of there. (1 Corinthians 6:18; 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22)
Create an Accountability Network
As Christians we have direct access to God. There is no place in the Bible where we are taught that we must confess our sins to others to have forgiveness from God. However, the Bible does teach that creating accountability with someone else can help you in your struggle against temptation (James 5:16).
You do not need to go into detail with your accountability partner about about your struggles, but they do need to know how to pray for you. Find someone who is a mature Christian. Often your pastor can fill this role, but it can also be a fellow church member. Tell them that you are struggling in a certain area. Look through the Bible together finding verses that will be a help to you. Have your friend ask you occasionally how you were doing in this area. Once a week is usually often enough. Make a promise to your friend that you will not lie to them when asked about how you are doing. You only hurt yourself when you lie to the other person. Ask your friend to pray for you—not stand in judgment.
Don’t be Discouraged
You should not become complacent about your sin. But you should also not allow it to defeat you. Sin is much more serious than eating too much dessert, but allow me to make an analogy. If you are on a diet and eat an extra cookie that you were not supposed to, does it make sense to quit your diet and eat the rest of the bag? The truth is that one extra cookie is a minor thing compared to how many good choices you made the previous week. It sounds silly to quit a diet because of 100 extra calories. Yet people do it all the time.
Realize that you probably will fall to temptation on occasion, but that is no reason to quit your Christian walk. Don’t accept your sin as if it doesn’t matter, but also realize that you have a choice in your future actions.
Confess and Repent
When you fall to temptation, go to God and confess. He already knows about your sin. You are not telling Him anything that is a surprise. But for your own sake you should humble yourself before God and confess your sin. The truth is, He has already forgiven you if you’re a Christian. Going to Him in confession makes it easier for you to have clear communication with Him.
Which of these tips about avoiding tempation was most helpful to you? Do you have any other tips to add to this list? Let us know in the comments.
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Wonderful article. This article encouraging me alot. Being youth i tempted with lust,I am struggling lot with this.After reading this article decided to overcome my temptation by memorizing bible verses .please uphold me in your prayers.Thank you.
Prayers .
Thank you for this article I’m use all the tools god gifted me to fight against sexual immorality and temptation as people of Youth we need to study and stay in the word of god and umpire one another to stay righteous thank you keep me in your prayers love ya thanks
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
for me! it was so helpful & we have to think that our Christ had died for our sins, we should have a deep understanding about Calvary.
Thanks for this article about temptation and glad I found your website. I am Deaf myself, and the article is easy to read & understand. God bless you!
Love your website. I lead a group of church youth and loving some themes so i can teach them in our bible study and perhaps more for sermons .
Blessing
Im happy to read this seven article it’s for help may good God bless you so much pastor
Thanks for this article it has made a difference in my belief as an adult that is a support system for a youth leader in my church.
Thank be to God for this great teaching about temptation. One thing I do understand about temptation is you be in process of temptation and the holy spirit can be advicing you not to do it but you still force it. What I have learned from this topic is to be prayerful Christian that will make you overcome every temptation..
Something that has helped me tremendously in avoiding temptation is to avoid whatever leads to that weakness. For instance, if it is social media, avoid it, internet-turn it off. There is much more out there that we can feed our minds with if we ask God to help us make that decision and stick with it. I have turned off the TV for past 19 yrs and never regretted it! I also think we can’t just stop sinful thoughts b/c even with prayer, it is like Paul said, I keep doing what I don’t want to do- the thinking and dwelling on it is what gives it a stronghold. So replacing sinful thoughts with wholesome and encouraging ones, songs of praise, scripture, happy memories of things, can fill that void and become a better habit.
This is an audacity of truth….its a blessing to me.
Keep shining
While putting on the armor of God works well with pet sins I plan because I have time to really think it through. However, most sins that sneak up on me don’t work well with this. What does work is to remind myself how much I hate sin and how much regret and guilt I’ll feel after committing said sin. In other words, is it really worth it? Before God saved me, I loved sin and hated the consequences. Now I hate sin and love the consequences. The guilt and regret of sins I knowingly commit today are almost unbearable.
Great wisdom in your comments my friend. Such great points. Thank you so much.
The one that stood out to me the most, and I could feel God drawing me to; is to use the word of God. I have been reading my bible but not on a daily basis. However, I have been reading articles such as this one with scripture in it. I realize that it’s not enough though. This one is confirmation for me to not only read the word but to study it, memorize it. Another part of this article that lit up like a lightbulb was when you wrote “Don’t accept your sin as if it doesn’t matter, but also realize that you have a choice in your future actions.” That’s true; I may not be able to go backwards but I do have a choice right now going forward 🙂
Well said Sharol. Thank you so much. So encouraging.
I am blessed,
God bless you real good for this article. I needed something to teach my young people about temptation and this is a great help. All the points here are excellent
Wow. This message has really built me. I have been struggling with a serious problem and have found a way around it. Thanks Soo much