“Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me” (Psalms 119:98).
Many Christians don’t understand sin is dangerous. God doesn’t tell us to avoid fun things out of cruelty, He tells us to avoid things that will hurt us.
Some Christians don’t understand that and choose to play around with sin. They get too close to it. They fear avoiding certain activities will separate them from friends. For that reason, they take on as much of their friends’ sinful lifestyles as they dare. They don’t realize sin separates us from our Best Friend.
How do we fight temptation? How do we know what things to avoid?
Our first strategy is to know the Word of God. Temptation starts in the thought life. That’s where we need the weapon of God’s Word. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
The second strategy is to confess when we fail. We must tell God when we make a mistake, but it is also good to have a special person with whom we can share confidences. Just knowing someone else is watching
puts us on alert.
The third strategy is prayer. Fallen Christian leaders testify that, before they sinned, their prayer lives had dried up. When prayer falters, temptation prospers.
Finally, don’t turn off your soul’s alarm system—your conscience. If you repeatedly ignore warnings, your conscience will become like a worn-out battery. It will not work anymore.
Remember, we all yield to temptation sometimes. Do not focus on your failures. Rather, focus on victory!
Kimberly Snider is a missionary to the Philippines.
From “Moments for Moms,” a free email subscription.
Copyright (c) 2005 Women’s Ministries of the Assemblies of God.
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