My personal battle with temptation has two phases: LIFE and ESCAPE. Phase one (LIFE) is about living LIFE to minimize any temptations in the first place. I do this because I do not trust myself and I do not want to take God’s grace for granted (Romans 6). Also this way I do not have to operate in escape mode very often. Phase two (ESCAPE) is the immediate practical plan that I use to ESCAPE when a temptation is staring me in the face. Each phase is based upon the truth that God wants me first to stay away from sin because of its power and second that God promised through Him I can defeat temptation. I am convinced that so much of my effort in years past was spent upon the trying to survive the actual moment of temptation instead of in advance “pulling the teeth” of temptation’s power before it impact my life.
Phase ONE - LIFE
My daily LIFE should never be about focusing on sin, but on living in Christ. If I am daily having to focus on my sin/temptation then my life is going to be filled with defeat and anxiety. (Philippians 4:6) But if I can focus on my LIFE in Christ then I am free to serve my God and others. My LIFE verse is:
Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
The “LIFE I now live” is my focal point for my daily walk so that I can keep from temptation. I start everyday with mediating on Galatians 2:20 and by focusing on:
L - Love God’s Word
I - Intense Prayer
F - Forget My Failures
E - Employ Myself to Service
Love God’s Word - I have found that when I fail to love God’s Word daily I am more likely to fall into temptation. Then I am forced to cry out to God to deliverance from temptation rather than living in victory away from temptation. But if I love, memorize, and meditate on God’s Word then temptations are less likely to appear. Psalm 119:97, 113, 163, and 165.
Intense prayer time - The less I pray the more I am tempted. It is that plain and simple - when I do not spend quality and quantity time in prayer every day, I am going to be hit by temptation and hit HARD! Jesus made it clear through the “Lord’s Prayer” that temptation can be something we ask God to keep away from us. I seek to “pray” the Lord’s Prayer daily, but not in a mindless quoting of it, but a mediating on a specific word or phrase as I pray it.
Forget my failures - I have found that every time I begin to focus on my past failures, my flesh begins to justify them, and it starts to justify the temptation to do them again now. Because of this I try to put the past behind me as much as possible and move on. Philippians 3:13 is my focal point here and I seek to quote it daily, especially when I feel weak spiritually. I know that I will remember my sin of yesterday, but on a daily basis I want to forget my failures and move on.
Employ myself to service - I NEED TO KEEP BUSY! I know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that when I just sit and do nothing, even mental laziness, that two things will happen, one, I physically begin to lose control and two, my flesh begins to control me. I was called by God to serve, first my God (Matthew 6:33), then my family (1 Timothy 5:8), and lastly others outside my family (1 Peter 4:10). But if I keep busy serving then I am less likely to be tempted.
Phase Two - ESCAPE
To be honest, whenever I am faced with temptation it is usually because I have failed to life the LIFE which I should be living and now I am living in ESCAPE or panic mode. When temptation hits I do not have time to do much beside run for the door as Joseph did in Genesis 39. My ESCAPE verse is:
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
E - Escape
S - Shout
C - Convene
A - Admit
P - Plead
E - Enter
Escape - Whenever I am tempted I try to physically move myself from wherever I am at that time. I have found that movement means a change in my mind because movement requires my mind to do something besides focus on the temptation. (Genesis 39:12)
Shout - I immediately say out loud, “LORD HELP!” This does two two things, first it shows my flesh that I mean business and that I am willing to humble myself by a vocal cry for help, and, second it shows the powers of darkness that help is on the way and they better run. (Psalm 55:17)
Convene - I try to get into the presence of someone, preferably another Christian, and in most cases my wife or family. I have found that temptation is strongest when I am alone. I have also found that if I am with other Christians I focus on them which helps me get my eyes off of myself and this helps defeat my temptation. I remember the days of school fire drills and the gathering point to insure everyone was safe - that is the principal here. (Matthew 18:20)
Admit - I need to admit that I need help. I clearly was not able to keep from temptation, and so, I need to admit that I had to put my escape plan in place because I failed to live LIFE as God intended for me to do. I must be willing to seek and accept help, but I cannot do that until I admit my condition and need. Galatians 6:1 may be directed for the mature to help the spiritually needy, but this principle also requires a needy person who is willing to admit they need help. When I am being tempted I need help.
Plead - I plead the power of Jesus’ shed blood for my sins. Usually I will internally pray and ask God to apply Jesus’ blood to my situation and ask for His help to defeat not just the temptation, but the fact that I had failed to live the LIFE I should have been. I may also ask someone, like my wife, to pray with me at this point and together we plead for this power to be applied. (1 John 1:7)
Enter - Once the temptation is over and I have escaped, it is time to re-enter the LIFE I was supposed to be living. I try to get back into that as soon as I can. If I sit and allow myself to either pout about the temptation or to sit and feel overwhelming guilt for my failure, then I will be hindered from getting back into the LIFE God wants for me to live right. In other words, I get over it and move on! (Philippians 3:14)
