Sometimes you may feel that a temptation is too unbearable, but that is a lie of Satan. God has promised that He will never allow there to be more about you than what He puts you in to overcome it.
He will not allow you any temptation that you can not overcome.
However, you must also do your part by practicing certain biblical keys to defeat the temptation, one of which is to focus your attention on something different.
You will be surprised to know that nowhere are we told to "resist temptation." We are told to "resist the devil" (James 4: 7), but that is very different. Instead, we are advised to refocus our attention because resisting a thought does not work. It only intensifies our focus on the bad and strengthens its fascination.
Let me explain something about temptation.
Every time you try to block a thought in your mind, you record it deeper in your memory. When you resist it, you actually reinforce it. This is especially true in the case of temptation. Do not defeat it by fighting against the feelings it produces. The more you fight against a feeling, the more it consumes and controls you. You really strengthen it every time you think about it.
Since temptation always starts with a thought, the quickest way to neutralize your fascination is to focus on something else. Do not fight against that thought, just change the channel of your mind and try to get involved in another idea. This is the first step to defeat temptation.
The battle against sin is won or lost in the mind.
Anything that catches your attention will catch you. That is why Job said: "I made a covenant with my eyes so as not to look with lust upon any young woman", Job 31: 1. And the psalmist prayed: "Keep me from paying attention to that which has no value," Psalm 119: 3.
Did you ever see a commercial on television promoting a meal and suddenly feel hungry? Have you ever heard a person cough and immediately feel the need to clear the throat? Have you ever seen a person opening their mouths in a big yawn and immediately felt the urge to yawn too? (It's possible you're yawning right now while you're reading this!) That's the power of suggestion. In a natural way we approach anything that we focus on. The more you think about something, the stronger it will hold you.
For that reason the repetition of "I must stop eating too much ... or stop smoking ... or stop lust" is a strategy of defeat. It keeps you focused on what you do not want. It is as if you announced: "I will never do what my mother did". You are preparing to repeat it.
Most diets do not work out because they keep you thinking about food all the time, guaranteeing that you will be hungry. In the same way, a speaker who repeats himself all the time: "Do not get nervous!" He prepares to get nervous! Instead he should concentrate on anything else except his feelings: on God, on the importance of his speech or on the needs of his listeners.
Eight steps to overcome temptation:
1.- Take responsibility for your actions:
As an authentic person you must recognize that you are vulnerable and that you can fall at any time. Do not think that you are immune, the Bible says "Therefore, he who thinks he stands, let him not fall." 1 Corinthians 10:12.
2.- Identify your temptation pattern:
We all have a pattern of behavior, it is necessary that you identify yours and realize that there are certain things that tempt you more than others.
- Plan to avoid it:
Once you identify the "triggers" that lead you to sin, plan to avoid them. In Proverbs 4:23 23 Guard your heart on every thing saved; Because of it flows life. the Bible says "Look on the path of your feet and all your ways will be stable".
4.- Protects your heart
Proverbs 4:23 23. Keep everything in your heart; Because of it flows life.
5.- Set your limits:
You must set limits in your life, do not play with temptation, just as a fire must remain in the fireplace because if it exceeds its limits it destroys the house, you who know you must establish your own limits.
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6.-Ask God for help:
Jesus said "Be alert and pray that you will not enter into temptation" Matthew 26:41 41 "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation: the spirit indeed is ready, but the flesh is sick.
7.- Focus on something else:
It is very interesting to know that the true origin of temptation is in oneself "each one is tempted when his own evil desires drag and seduce him. Then, when desire has conceived, it engenders sin; and sin, once it has been consummated, gives birth to death. "
We need the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome, it is useless to believe that we will achieve it without the help of God, remember that the heart is very easy to be deceived because "nothing is as deceptive as the heart.
