Step 5: Flee Temptation
Sexual temptation can be hard to avoid. The roots of sexual desire run deep and feed off many different stimuli. If you are to remain free from this habitual sin, you must learn to avoid the things that feed it as much as possible.
- Focus on your relationship with God.
Seek a rich spiritual relationship through regular worship of God. Physical stimulation through sinful means will then seem less appealing to you.
- Latch on to God’s promises.
Find biblical statements or stories that encourage you in your fight against sexual immorality. Commit at least one verse to memory so that you can use it in your fight against temptation, just as Jesus used Scripture against the Devil in the desert. Here is one verse to consider using:
You are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (Romans 8:9)
- Establish safeguards.
What sets off your lustful acts? Put a barrier between that sinful trigger and yourself if you can. Take as many practical precautions to guard yourself. For example,
• Immediately break off any immoral relationship you have.
• If you rent pornographic DVDs, get rid of your DVD player. Or if you go to sexually explicit websites, install filtering software.
• If you tend to dwell on lustful thoughts, choose a substitute image to put in your mind.
• If you have homosexual tendencies, seek a Christian counselor skilled in reparative therapy.
• Ask a trusted Christian friend to hold you accountable in your commitment to remain sexually pure.
- Expect victory.
You may have fallen to sexual immorality in the past, but that does not mean you cannot know sexual purity now. Believe in God and in the path toward holiness that only He can bring.
