How to resist temptation?
As Christians we will one day be in heaven, in the physical realm with God. We´ll have perfect bodies, we won’t sin, we won’t have sadness, it will be complete joy and complete worship to Jesus. However, while we remain on earth, there is this thing called “temptation” and this thing called “sin”. And while we may experience temptation, and have problems in our lives, we don’t necessarily have to sin when we are tempted. Just because you´re tempted it doesn’t mean that you´re sinning.
Temptation comes to every believer, and it comes in different forms and different ways but what you do when you are being tempted is the key. When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He did one thing throughout each temptation, and that is that he quoted Scripture. The greatest thing, the greatest tool that you can have when you are being tempted is the Word of God, and it´s not just reading the Word of God but it´s really memorizing the Word of God, the reason why is because you are not tempted when you are taking your devotional time in the morning, you are not tempted necessarily when you are at Church, you are tempted when you are out in the world, when you are doing things that you shouldn’t be. it´s in those moments that you needed to have memorized and have sought the Scripture, so that the Holy Spirit can bring that to remembrance to you.
So when that temptation comes you don’t have to give in to temptation, you don’t have to sin, rather you can use God´s word to fight it. And while many people think that temptation comes from God, and that God is trying to tempt them into do something to harden their life, that is not true neither biblical. Temptation is something that the devil does, the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy and he wants to do that to any Christian he can and he does that through the form of temptation.
Satan cannot cause you to sin, but he can tempt you to. And so resisting that temptation through the Word of God, I believe brings glory to the God, and eventually brings us into a right relationship with Him, where we can see Him then face to face once we are in eternity with Jesus.
Anthony Santiago