The following question asked by one of the youths in my church when we went back to Canada earlier this year.
How to avoid or give in to temptations that is not gonna help moving on?
The first step is recognizing your own temptations. Is it physical? Is it emotional? Is it what you see on TV or online? Is it emails with pictures from your buddy? We are to put temptations to death. Colossians 3:5-9 explains this very clearly…
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:5-9 NIV
We are called to put on the new self. The first step is recognizing the temptation. The second is putting these to death by resisting and avoiding them. The more you do this the better you get. Conversely, if you gratify your sinful desires, you will get better at that as well! Sadly, we don’t think sin or temptation is a big deal. You might hear others say, we are saved anyways, why bother? Or it is ok, everyone’s tempted. When we don’t think sin is a big deal, we don’t think Holiness is a big deal. Then we will grow weak and fall into temptation all the time!
