Walk Away.

I know most of us have been in situations, where you have been tempted to do what is not right and yes we know it ain’t right. In our journey of faith, nobody is perfect. On a daily basis we are tempted to think, talk and watch what is not right. On a personal level i might be minding my own business, until something pops up in my mind that ain’t godly at all!!

On this particular day, i was heading  to work and the Bus i was traveling in, had switched to a radio talk show and the presenters were busy engaging the viewers with inappropriate discussions, which was painting a very bad picture about marriage. Calmly as I sat in that bus heading to work, i had no choice but to listen to that discussion. After alighting the bus, i noticed that my mind was subconsciously thinking about the discussion and it really made me feel upset. I was just like what is this now!!!! This happens quite often to most of us, it might be you are watching your favorite program and an advert which has inappropriate content, pops up or maybe you are busy scrolling your social media account and you just bump into an inappropriate image.

Each and every day, we face temptations head on but God’s word is very clear about us facing temptations James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Even Jesus Himself was tempted but how He chose to handle the whole situation, made the devil loose his game.

This helps us to grow more to be like Jesus Himself. I came to realize the devil’s tactics are the same since time in memorial, from the Garden of Eden till now.

Some of his tactics are:-

1. Deception:-Satan will never ever speak the truth, he will always twist the word of God. like telling eve in the garden of Eden, you will be like God once you partake the fruit Genesis 3.We have times when He will tell you, If you steal, lie, gossip, complain, criticize, abuse etc you can get away with it, No one will ever know, it will solve your problems besides everybody else is doing it……huh! It is only a small sin but trust me,if you don’t kill that habit, attitude or thought that small sin will eventually grow to be a big giant and destroy you.
2. The Desires within you:-Satan knows we have desires, they can either be good or wicked and all of them begin with a thought.Maybe someone has really hurt you and you feel it’s your right to get even, the suggestion of getting revenge always comes from the devil himself .God is very clear when He says forgive each other and vengeance is mine Romans12:19 as believers we have no business in getting revenge. We often think, temptations lies around us but it actually starts from within.In James 1:13-15 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.You might have a very good and genuine desire to get married or marry if you are a man.The enemy knows that very well but he will try to set a lustful desire in you, which will led you to be impatient and eventually fornicate before actually getting married. The list is endless but despite the temptations we go through on a daily basis, our choices are what matters most.
3. Doubt:-This is an interesting point that most of us battle with, where the enemy tries to get you to doubt what God has said about sin. Some people will argue about homosexuality, that it is not wrong and yet some years back, they knew all along it’s a vice that God hates with a passion. After embracing the worldly ideologies, they end up believing the lie that it’s right, as long as these people ain’t breaking any law in the Land but they fail to understand they are breaking the most vital law of God’s creation. Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them

Temptation becomes a sin when you yield into it and the closer you grow towards God the more Satan will tempt you. James 4:7.The Bible does not say resist the temptation but we are told resist the devil  The more you fight a feeling the more it consumes and controls you and the best way to neutralize any temptation is to turn to do  something else that will take your thought pattern to a different scene.

Ignoring a temptation is more effective than fighting it. At times you may be forced to walk away, from a bunch of people who are busy gossiping or complaining, you might be forced to block some people from your social media accounts because they ain’t posting the right stuff that you might bump into, you might also be forced to change the tv channel or turn it off all together the list is endless on the precautions you can take to avoid some temptations.