July 29
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior, because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:14-16)
We now have arrived to our last Resisting principle in the Overcoming Temptation booklet, REVERSE the fleshly momentum; reorient your life in the Spirit. When Satan attacks and temptation looms near, after we have 1) Recognized how we are being tempted, 2) Realized the potential consequences and opportunity before us, 3) Remembered the pain and destruction that sin causes, 4) Recited scripture pertaining to the temptation, 5) Refused the temptation immediately, decisively, and persistently, 6) Retreated immediately from sources of temptation, 7) Reckoned myself dead to sin and alive to God, 8) Requested God to help me, 9) Resolved to overcome at all costs, 10) Replaced fleshly thoughts with spiritual thoughts, 11) Rejoiced in the Lord and given thanks to God, the final step is to 12) Reverse the fleshly momentum and Reorient our lives in the Spirit.
What do I mean by “reverse the fleshly momentum” you ask? Well, as I mentioned in the booklet, in my experience sin feeds on sin. I may get upset about something and get angry with someone, then the conflict escalates and more is said, then hard feelings ensue and more things might be done or said that further escalate the situation and strain relationships, and then hearts start to harden, and so on. Or if I start watching TV and wasting time, the lazy mindset begins to ensnare me, and if I have done it a little my defenses are weaker, not stronger, and I then continue to do it more and more.
Another example is my spiritual walk with the Lord. It is easy to get so wrapped up in the things I am doing that I don’t think much of the Lord. The excitement I may have had a few days or weeks ago is quickly forgotten. I get going in my business and to do lists and before I know it, I am not really thinking all that much about spiritual things, I am not praying or seeking the Lord as I had been doing, and I have forgotten the spiritual thoughts that were so exciting to me a few days before. And as a result I am more open to temptation. It is much easier to fall into temptation when we are distant from the Lord, and it is so easy to sink deeper and deeper in sin, both in quantity and degree, once we have started to sin and set it in motion. Stopping it gets more and more difficult once it gets going.
I have noticed that I am much more prone to sinning when I am tired. We will discuss more about this tomorrow when we talk about studies that have been done on self-control. For me, getting a good rest and getting up early, refreshed, praying, meditating on and studying scripture, before others get up, in the quiet of the house and before the busyness of the day starts, these are wonderful times for me. In addition, one thing I really dislike is when I waking up feeling tired. I loathe the feeling of having to go to work when every fiber of my being cries out to go back to sleep. Staying up late, when I should be going to bed, are the times when I am tempted the most and am most vulnerable to temptations of wasting time or viewing inappropriate things on the internet.
Discipline in getting to bed early and getting good rest are very important to overcoming temptation on a daily basis. How are you doing in this area? What is your schedule, and does it allow for plenty of rest and uninterrupted time with the Lord? What changes do you need to make to get to bed earlier and avoid late night temptations?