5 Practical Ways To Resist Temptation That Will save Your Life

What then is Temptation?

Ever wondered how to resist temptation and lead a Christian lifestyle that God intends? Well you have come to the right place. In order to resist temptation you must begin by knowing what temptation really is. Temptation is the devil’s way of enticing us to join him in his kingdom and become like him. His desire is for us to disobey God, rebel against God like he did. And to walk away from God and His ways and do life the devil’s way. The devil knows that…

So he desires for us to also join him in an eternity of torment in hell. He wants to take as many people away from God as he can. His desire is to take everyone down with him to hell because he hates us. The devil succeeded in tempting Eve and she disobeyed God and from then on he hasn’t stopped trying to deceive everyone else. He is literally on a roll.

The devil also tempted Jesus promising Him all sorts of things if He bowed down to worship Him. Unlike Eve, Jesus succeeded in resisting the devil’s temptations. Do not underestimate the devil, he has been around since creation.

He knows which buttons to push and how to tempt people. But not to worry, the bible says 

So don’t be discouraged. While the devil may have power, we are more than conquerors. There is no temptation under the sun that God has not equipped us to withstand and overcome. We just have to be open to allowing God to show us how to resist temptation and believe that the devil is not greater than us.

Why do you need to resist temptation?

Remember, being tempted is not a sin. You have not sinned until you give in to the sin. When Jesus was tempted, He didn’t sin. Remember He is the one man who was perfect, and still is perfect. Never sinned a day in his life. 

We have not sinned until the moment we give in to the temptation. And when you know how to resist temptation then you do not have to worry

The moment that we resist temptation we emerge victorious. We would have made one step towards Christlikeness. Because remember Jesus never sinned. He managed to resist the devil. So when we resist the devil we become less of our carnal selves and become more like Jesus. 

How do we resist temptation??

The bible tells us that when we resist the devil he will flee from us. I love to use practical examples. First, let’s go back to the temptation of Jesus. This is a perfect illustration on how to resist temptation, the way Jesus did.

Jesus was fasting when the devil tempted him Matthew 4:1-11  So, the devil knew that Jesus was vulnerable, hungry and very exposed. That’s when he attacked. The devil like I said earlier on, has been around since the very beginning. He knows that when you are vulnerable, that is when you are the most likely to have your guard down and give in to his temptations.

How to resist temptation with food

The devil tempted Jesus with food. Knowing that He was hungry and that a hungry person will likely do anything to get food. Not Jesus. Not the King of glory, can someone say AMEN!!!

Jesus refused to turn stones into bread. Then next he tempted him with testing God. Something we do all too frequently. “God if you are real show me this and that”. The devil asked Jesus to jump off so that the angels would catch him before he fell. But the Lamb of God resisted. He knew perfectly well how to resist temptation.

The devil didn’t stop there. He tempted Jesus finally with power and material things. In this day and age many people are “selling their souls” for fame and fortune. But the Son of man resisted that one as well. 

Verse 11 says, The devil went away and the angels came and took care of Jesus.

He resisted the devil and what did he do? He fled. He had tried all the tricks in his bag but they fell on deaf ears. Then HE WENT AWAY, the bible says. When you resist the devil, he will get tired and move on to the next person. 

The devil still tempts us to this day with food. How to resist temptation where food is concerned is something that is plaguing the present day believer. Food is one of the easiest way that the devil tempts us and most of us lack self control when it comes to food.

Fasting

Fasting is practice that not only brings us closer to God but also helps us to keep our bellies in check. It has both physical as well as spiritual benefits. If you are really struggling with temptation where food is concerned and are wondering How to resist temptation with food then you really need to try fasting.

It helps you not only get self control but also it shrinks your stomach and ultimately you are able to control your portions and you will emerge the winner against the devil and his endless wiles.

Mind over matter

Most people eat way after they are full. They eat just because there is still food on their plate or because there is fridge in the fridge. But that must not be the reason why we eat. The same way we crucify our selves and deny ourselves from carnality is the same way that we must learn on how to resist temptation with food.

I am glad to share that like most of you guys, the pandemic left us helpless to snacking and we could eat whatever there was mainly out of sheer boredom. And that led us to being complete slaves to food. Let me school you on how to resist temptation with food.

Sis, tell that stomach that it is not the boss of you. Stand firm and tell it that you will not be bullied and controlled by your stomach, especially after you have eaten a meal and honestly do not need to eat.

Tell your body that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and you can indeed pass that food over.

How to resist temptation sexually

The same way that you resist temptation with food is the same way you also use to resist temptation sexually. Ladies listen, while you are navigating your single season, I get that as humans there comes a time when we have that sexual urge.

And thats great because it shows that all your systems are still working well. And remember that sex itself is a gift from God, but in a marriage set up. So in case you are wondering, How to resist temptation sexually. It’s pretty simple.

Remember your why. The why as to why you may be in that celibacy period. Or the why in the case that you are now a disciple of Jesus and you don’t just have random sex because you want it. you now do life God’s way. So in that case remember and keep your eyes on Jesus and I assure you, you will know how to resist temptation sexually.

the Holy Spirit will always guide us, and take us away from tempting situations if we yield to him and allow him to lead and control us.

Put on the armour of God to resist temptation

I love this scripture because it especially talks about how to resist temptation as well as how we can withstand the devil. I will talk about ‘ the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God‘, Ephesians 6:17 as one of the armours that will help us to withstand the devil. 

Like Jesus if you look at that story, it is the word of God that He used to fight and resist the devil. At first he quoted the verse that, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God‘ Matthew 4:3-4 

Using the word of God as a weapon

Then He resisted by quoting, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Matthew 4:7. Lastly he countered the devilish lies by one simple truth. “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”Matthew 4:10.

And this one took him out. He left. Because he realised that this guy knows what He is talking about. There is no chance (in hell) for me to turn him. Jesus knew how to resist temptation. Then the devil left.

The lesson here is that we must know the word of God. Knowing it well enough to use it as a weapon. It really is the only weapon that we have against the devil. 

Be aware of the devil’s devices

How can you defeat an opponent in a war? Simple. Knowing His tactics. Anticipating his moves. The same applies in our war with the devil. In order for us to be victorious over him we must not be ignorant of his devices. He spends every hour of his life studying us, trying to tempt us so that we can sin and give him an opportunity to attack us.

Why not do the same to him? Study his motives, his game plan and that way we’ll be ready for him when he comes. When he attacks we will know how to resist temptation and he will not stand a chance.

What is the devil’s plan against us??

 To steal, kill and destroy

Listen, the devil is always trying to steal from us all the promises that God has for us. Everything that he does is for us to be disqualified from getting what is rightfully ours. He tries to tempt us into sinning thereby stealing our inheritance, so that he steals eternity from us when we are separated from God. We must always be aware of how to resist temptation so that we are ready for him.

He wants to literally kill us

And I mean this literally. I don’t know about you but I have had many freak situations where I almost died in a way that doesn’t even make sense. That’s the devil, trying to take us out. Yes he wants to take us out and cut our lives short so that we do not fulfil the purpose that we were created for. Imagine if it weren’t for God, the devil would have taken me out and I wouldn’t be here today exposing him. I thank God that through His mercy I finally figured out how to resist temptation and now I so much better off.

The devil wants to destroy us

Again you will see how the devils goal in life is to destroy us. Anything good. Our health. Our joy. Our success. We live in  a fallen world and it is that way because of the devil who is the prince of this world. So if he destroys the beautiful world that God created; he might as well destroy everything in it. And that includes you and me.

To doubt the truth of God

The devil is the father of lies and everything that he does is to make us doubt the truth of God’s word, His promises and His goodness. 

The devil’s native tongue is lies. He attacks us with doubt, fear, anxiety and tries to make us believe that God is not real or that the promises of God in the bible do not apply to us. 

And a lack of faith limits us from getting many things from God. God is a Spirit. We can not see Him. But we must believe in what we don’t see. And doubting God means not believing in Jesus, and that means no salvation. Because salvation is believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died and rose again. 

The bible says that if we believe this and confess it with our mouths, we will be saved. So that means if we don’t believe in God we will not be saved. All part of the devils plan. But if we learn how to resist temptation we will beat the devil at his game.

The devil wants us to be discouraged

The devil uses a lot of discouragement to make us feel like we are a lost cause. To make us underestimate the power of God. 

The devil tries to make us look at our problems instead of looking at God. God is bigger than whatever you may see. The greater the mountain the greater the opportunity for God to show His glory. Some of the greatest encounters I have had with God were instances where everything seemed hopeless and when God came through, there was no doubt that it was God and he got ALL THE GLORY.

When we encounter any problems in our lives do not focus on the issue. Focus on the truth. Transform your mind from looking at the problem to standing on the truth of the word.This transformation begins when you grasp the concept of how to resist temptation and you will no longer be a victim.

I remember the days where all I had were His promises. When I stood on that word that God had spoken over me. Even when it didn’t look like it, when God said….

That’s all that mattered to me. It didn’t matter what lies the devil was saying. Until now I stand on the truth of his promises. I always say, Let everything else be a lie but the word of God be the truth.

He uses diversion

The way the devil tempted Eve to want to eat the fruit which she, before the temptation had not even considered eating, was a way to divert her from what was right.

It got her questioning many things. Questioning God. Guys, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying having questions is a sin or that it’s wrong. 

But be careful about the lies you allow the devil to plant in your head. This is how most people turn from being Christians to being Agnostic or Atheist. It’s perfectly fine to be curious, but just be careful that the devil is not “pulling an Eve” when she started wondering why indeed God had said not to eat from that tree. If we know how to resist temptation we will be able to discern if our curiosity is healthy curiosity or temptation from the devil

We don’t always have to have answers to everything. Remember God is sovereign. He does what He wants. So we must just obey. That’s it. Because we trust him that He knows what is best for us.

Defeat and delay

Another ploy of the devil is to make us feel defeated. He does this making you doubt for example your calling. I remember after God had called me to start this blog the devil was tempting me with defeat and delay. At first I wasn’t convinced that I would even be able to do this whole blogging thing, or that it was my kinda thing.

I literally asked God to confirm to me if this was indeed from Him. and He did, many times. The last time was when someone literally said, just start it, stop overthinking. God has called you. And this was from a fellow sister in Christ who didn’t even know what was happening in my life.

After starting it, I wasted too much time trying to perfect everything. Thinking, “was it pretty enough and stuff?”. But all that time that I wasted in doubting everything, was the devil stealing my time from spreading the news of the gospel to the world.

But by God’s grace, I overcame all the lies. Finally. After the revelation of how to resist temptation. We are here now. Victorious as ever. Because God has empowered us to resist the devil.

What overcoming sin means to God

Not only does overcoming sin make us like Christ, but it also shows our love for God. It is an act of worship and honour. It says God, I choose you over these enticing things. Yes we are still human, we are always at war against our fleshly nature, but when we crucify our flesh and resist the devil it says, GOD I CHOOSE YOU.

It shows that we trust God with our lives. That we obey Him as he knows what is best for us. It says Lord your will is greater than my desires. Your word is the only thing that matters to me. 

So my lovelies, I pray that you always reach out to God for strength to resist the devil and his lies, and draw closer to God. Because ultimately when you know how to resist temptation the devil will be the one fleeing from from you.

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