What to Do When You’re Tempted

How to Stay Strong in Every Situation

Your word I have treasured and stored in my

heart, that I may not sin against You.

Psalm 119:11 (AMP)

I believe temptation is a topic that we should probably talk more about. The Bible gives us some very practical instruction on what to do, and we can prepare ourselves ahead of time. The truth is, we are all tempted at times. But it’s how we respond that makes all of the difference.

Colossians 3:2 (AMP) says, Set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things….

This is the key to resisting temptation. See, when we make up our mind ahead of time what we will and won’t do, then when temptation comes, we have laid a foundation to make right choices and are more likely to successfully overcome the temptation.

For example, before you get into social situations, decide: “I am not going to gossip. I’m not going to ruin someone’s reputation and offend the Holy Spirit.”

Other temptations may require you to decide things like, “I’m not going to eat four candy bars today,” or “I am not going to look at pornography on the internet,” or “I am not going to hang out with people who are bad influences.” My point here is, we don’t want to wait until the temptation comes and then react based on how we feel about it.

God’s Word is the key to staying strong. Psalm 119:11 (AMP) says, Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart, that I may not sin against You.

Did you know God’s Word will help you to want to do the right thing? Before we know the Word, we can sin and really not feel too bad about it. But once we begin studying the Word, doing the wrong thing makes us very uncomfortable! The Word begins changing us on the inside, helping us to want to do what’s right.

The Lord also gives us the strength to fight temptation and do what His Word says. I love Isaiah 41:10. God tells us, “...Do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties...” (AMPC).

When we spend time in the Word, it strengthens our spirit man, and the Lord “hardens” us so we can stand up to the difficulties and temptations that come our way. He literally gives us the power to say no to things that aren’t good for us.

Again, the Bible says that temptation will come—we’ll never fully get away from it until we get to heaven. But God wants to strengthen us to handle it when it comes.

Walk It Out: In Matthew 26:41 (AMP), Jesus says, “Keep actively watching and praying that you may not come into temptation....”

I believe if we pray beforehand, we will be strong enough to resist it. In fact, I’ve recently been aggressively praying about my weak areas more than ever before. I’ll pray, “God, strengthen me in these areas before I’m even tempted.”

I encourage you to take a few moments right now. Can you think of a weak area right now that’s a temptation for you? If so, take a minute to pray and ask the Lord to strengthen you in that area.