The Bible says resist temptation and flee from it (see 1 Cor 6:18). This is important because we actually don't fight temptation. It's not something the Bible tells us to go head to head with and start battling.
We are told in scripture to flee youthful lusts, flee temptations, and run away from them (2 Tim. 2:22). That is the best battle strategy for you and me if we're to beat the temptations that can easily beset us is …
…Take yourself out of the environment where the temptation is.
I realize sometimes this is easier said than done. If you want to get out of the cycle of sin, or avoid falling into it, keep reading.
You might be thinking,
Hey, that's great. I can't always just remove myself because you don't know because of my work or where I am or where I have to go. There's always temptations around me and there always will be.
Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted in. And he shows us as the Son of Man in his perfected humanity the way God intends man to be.
You can beat temptations with five specific tactics that you can start using in your life right now.
1. Know that willpower alone doesn't work
If you think you can beat your enemy only based on your willpower, that you're strong enough, that you're man enough, or that you can just muscle up.
Believing you’re strong in your own will and won’t fall is a deception.There have been a lot of studies on willpower, and here's the thing; it’s a limited resource. Any expert in the field of personal development and understanding willpower and what makes champions champions, how they build habits, how they overcome, you will see that willpower is a limited resource.
You don't have enough human will power to last all day. It comes in finite amounts and we usually have willpower at the beginning of the day. Think about your diet. Think about your health. You usually can start off really strong. And it's by the end of the day when you’ve already depleted that willpower bank account on all these other decisions where you usually fall at the end of the day. You are more likely to make bad decisions when you're tired and overspent
So if you're only relying on willpower, you're doing it totally wrong because you do not have enough. So the first tactic is don't rely on your willpower.
2. Change your environment
All the studies show if you want to build new habits and be the man you really want to be and you want to develop the skills you need, then you must start living out of a new environment that shapes and has all the things necessary.
This is going to challenge you and also shield you from the things that can easily beset you. So if there's a certain place, let’s say there's a thing in your house that's causing you to trip up, or if there's a relationship, maybe even a friend you have to cut off or cut out because it's feeding something in you that's always making you sin or taking you into a place that you're not supposed to go.
You need to cut that off.
3. Avoid isolation
Guys, we like to think we can do it on our own. We like to man up and just think we're strong enough and think “hey, I can do it. Other guys have fallen, but I won't fall. I've made up my mind. I'm strong enough. I'm not going to give in to this temptation” we can end up playing with fire.
And guess what?
Whenever you play with fire, you get burned. We see that in Proverbs 6:27-29, and I’m paraphrasing: How can a man take fire close to him and not get burned?
You're fooling yourself if you think you can flirt with the world and not end up crossing the line. Avoid being alone. Avoid places, people and things that can set you up for failure.
4. Be authentic and be vulnerable
Find some men in your life. Find someone that you can confide in. If you have a struggle in an area with a specific temptation, be authentic about it. I love it when I hear guys say, “hey, I got to share something with you.” and they let their guard down and they tell me what's really going on in their life.
I have so much respect for that man who can let their guard down. You don't have to tell everyone every nitty gritty thing going on in your life. You don't have to broadcast on a Facebook Live or make an Instagram Reel about it and share it to the world. But you DO need to tell somebody sometimes because that's the way you overcome through your testimony and through your word.
There's an accountability that comes there. I also find that when you speak it out loud, you can overcome it because now you can defeat it. You put it into the atmosphere, you're recognizing it and you can disarm the power that that thing has over you.
5. Lean on the Holy Spirit
We're not doing this all on our own. So far I gave you some really practical, actionable tips, but we are infused with the power of the Holy Spirit to beat temptations. We have to rely on Him. We have to lean on Him and partner with Him, and that means we have to live out of a new creation identity.
Stop saying you're a sinner.
Stop confessing you're struggling.
Start living out of your sonship. How do you do that? You recognize that you are actually a son of God, that He loves you, that He rescued you, that He pulled you out of where you were to place you where you are now in a life that overcomes.
And now you have to walk in that new identity experientially. So we're there positionally when you become saved, when you ask Jesus to forgive you of all your sins and you commit your ways to Him, you now have to walk that out. And as you walk that out, He walks with you.
Start seeing yourself the way He sees you.
Start living out of that new identity to overcome temptations and to be the man you're created and called to be and be the man that He says you are. Guys, I'd love to hear from you.
Let me know which one of these strategies resonates with you the most, and until then, build your plan to beat temptation and let's raise the standard.
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