Overcoming Temptation and Sexual Pressure

OVERCOMING TEMPTATION AND SEXUAL PRESSURE.

To start with, you need to know that every living man/woman is under the pressure of sin and lust. This is because of the nature we possess [read Romans 3:10-23; 7:14-24].  Freedom from this burden only comes by desire and readiness to pay the price [Isaiah 1:19]. As you are willing to be free, you must, much more, be determined to obey the rules. Desiring without self-discipline to obey will not solve the problem [Read Romans 6:16-23; 7:24-25; 8:1].

I. MEANING OF TEMPTATION:

By definition, temptation is an enticement in the heart to experiment/do that which is evil or forbidden by either or all of moral, judicial or spiritual law and order. It is a compelling force of nature, exciting you to act against your moral personality or conscience. This happens to all men, sinners and saints alike. Note that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God in man, was not exempt from this enemy of our soul [Hebrews 4:15; Matt. 4:1-11].

A. Hints On Temptation:

1. It is not a sin to be tempted; it becomes a sin only when you yield to temptation.

2. Temptation is not peculiar to you alone; others are passing through the same way to promotion.

3. God cannot tempt you with evil; Satan is the tempter [James 1:13].

4. Temptation has its objective: to make you cast a vote of no confidence in God.

5. Whenever temptation comes, it is to rub you of a particular blessing, both physical and spiritual.

6. Overcoming temptation is possible; God usually provides a way of escape when you are tempted, and you will not be tempted above your spiritual strength [1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Peter 2:9].

7. When you overcome temptation, it leads to promotion, both physical and spiritual [Matthew 4:11; Mark 4:13-14].

8. It takes discipline and endurance to overcome temptation [James 1:12].

II. AGENT OF TEMPTATION: [Read James 1:13-15].

The primary and most effective tool in the hand of Satan to tempt man is LUST.  So, it is of necessity for you to understand the principal agent that has been in existence since creation.

A. Meaning of Lust:

The word lust is an excitement of the mind, a longing after, a setting of the heart upon, a longing for what is forbidden. To lust after is to covet or desire the inordinate. It is a word of sinful affection that leads to immorality. A sensual desire.  A passionate craving for immorality.

B. Gateway to Lust: [Read 1 John 2:15-17; Galatians 5:16-21].

Satan has been engaging these 3 means to lead man into lust:

1. The Lust of the flesh: leads to immoral desire [Mark 7:20-23; 1 Cor. 10:5-12; Gal. 5:16-21; Col. 3:5-6; 1 Thes. 4:2-7]

2. The lust of the eyes: leads to impurity [2 Samuel 11:2-4; Proverbs 6:25-35; Matthew 5:27-30]; and

3. The pride of life: lead to arrogant and wilful disobedience. When you decide to live your life in your own way with no respect to any rule or principle of living [Psalm 10:4-7; 73:1-12; Prov. 8:13; 16:18; 29:23].

You must be mindful and careful of these lustful ways. By them, Satan tempted Eve and overcame [Gen. 3:4-6]. Satan tempted Jesus with the same means but fail [Matt.4:1-11].

 

III. FLEE  LUSTS: [2 Timothy 2:22].

The issue of lust is commonly operative in the life of the youth. Many of the youth were captured young by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. If you are able to overcome lust at your youthful years, you are likely not to fall prey of lust at your later years.

A. Areas of  lust/temptation: 

Let’s observe examples of some people who were tempted in the bible and the common areas of temptation:

1. Joseph [Gen.39:7-12]. Fornication is a major temptation to the youth. The youths are promising to their future and their generation. The enemy will want to cut them off before their day of fulfilment. Thank God Joseph overcame.      

2. Samuel [1 Samuel 2:22-26]. Samuel lived and grew with the sons of Eli, who were full of lust and fornication, but did not corrupt himself with them. You should mind the type of friends and relations you live with and avoid their acts.

3. Daniel [Daniel 1:5-8]. Daniel and his colleagues were tempted with food and drinks, which are the lust of the flesh. To overcome like Daniel, you should be determined like him [v.8].

4. Esau [Gen. 25:29-34]. “thus Esau despised his birthright” is a statement of defilement through lust.

5. Sons of Eli [1 Samuel 2:12-17]. The sons of Eli also fell by the same temptation and lust of their youth.

6. Amnon [2 Samuel 13:1-17]. This sin eventually led to Amnon’s death.

The sin of fornication is a killer sin. When a man/woman is captured by it; he is brought down in life and in glory [Proverbs 2:10-11, 16-19; 5:1-14; 6:20-35]. Consider that Proverbs 6:32 – 35; fornication brings an irredeemable evil unto man that caught with it. Be warned.

B. Things That Leads To Lusts and sexual sin:

1. The friends / association you keep. If you keep the wayward as friends you are surely going to be wayward. Note that evil communications corrupt good manners [1 Cor.15:33]. The friend of Amnon taught him to commit fornication with his sister [2 Sam. 13:3-6]. You are counsel to stop friendships that do not promote godliness.

2. Late night sexy movies. What you feed your eyes with will pollute your mind.

3. Nude and Phonographic pictures – either life or pictorial. These are part of the lust of the eyes the bible speaks about. You need to do away with them if they are in your possession.

4. Ungodly live chat/Face-book friendson the internet will definitely corrupt your mind with immoral discussions.

5. Sinful Habit and Indulgence. The habit of masturbating, caressing / fumbling with ones private parts often practiced by someone under pressure should be discouraged and permanently stopped.

6. Lustful Thinking. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he:” [Prov.23:7]. As long as you keep thinking of your sexual relationship with your someone in the past, you will be gripped by lust or keep the company of those still living in that habit, you may not be able to break loose from the lust.  Keep away from flash backs (thinking of how you had sex with someone in the past)

All these and many other contemporary ways of fornication the modern world is teaching and publishing should be avoided if you want to maintain purity and holy living.

 

C. How To Overcome Lusts:

1. “Flee Fornication.”   [1 Corinthians 6:18, 15-16, 19-20]. This is the no.1 warning you must heed. As long as you are not ready to make up your mind to separate from the sin of fornication, there is no magic way of getting free from this lust.

2. Read and Obey the word of God. [Proverbs 2:1-22; 7:1-27]. Your constant reading of the word of God will keep warning you of this evil, and if you are able to obey the word, you shall be freed from the power of lust.

3. Make/Keep a covenant with your eyes and mind. This is the common pathway of the righteous [Job31:1; Matthew 5:28-29]. The world we are now is already polluted with immorality. Unless you discipline yourself to personal conviction and decision not to follow the naked-dressing ladies with your eyes, and ponder them in your heart, freedom is not possible. So be resolutely determined.

4. “Flee from agents of lust.” [2 Timothy 2:22]. Be careful of the section you open to on the internet, the pictures you keep in your album, the chart/almanac in your room for with what you feed your eyes/mind, your heart will lust to practice. Stop phoning or receiving phone from friends on Facebook and African chat that are immoral. These are the modern ways of keeping oneself impure [2Tim.2:21].

5. Shun all immoral talk and company of those doing it [Psalm 1:1-3; Prov.. 6:24-26; 2 Tim 2:16; 1Tim.4:7-8; Eph.5:3-8]. Try to keep off from friends that talk and discuss immoral acts and pursue men. Avoid also women who lure men into immoral acts by gifts, visits, immoral play, and suggestive gestures, as friends. Those ones can no longer be your friend if you want to be free.

6. Desire to be Pure [2 Tim.. 2:21]. If you truly desire a thing, you will have it. If you desire to be pure, you will purge yourself of impurities – you will burn all materials that lure you into immorality and separate from friends that are not ready to live a pure life – male & female [2 Cor.6:14-18].

7. Avoid bodily contact with the opposite sex as much as possible [1 Cor.. 6:15-16]. This is very edifying. Stop holding men’s hands-in-hand while going about, sitting so tightly close with men; hugging, kissing, or embracing men will be too tempting for you. You may not be to come out of the heat that such body contact generates, therefore avoid it [Proverbs 6:27-29]. My observation is that you could be sensitive to men’s touch and body contact. Please avoid that as much as possible.

 

IV. HOW TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION.

To overcome temptation as a general term, you need to observe some common Christian lifestyles that characterise the body of believers and who want to identify with Christ.

1. Keep the company of the children of God [Daniel 1:6-8, 11-14]. This will help you a great deal. The company of people you keep will influence you a lot. Choose and keep friends that are godly amidst the children of God you fellowship with. Start with people of the same sex. Beware of intimate friendship with men even in the church, because of temptation and sinful familiarity.  

2. Be consistent in the house fellowship of your choice. Be very consistent in church services also. Chat with someone who will help you grow spiritually, i mean someone who is always encouraging and inspiring you spiritually. [Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:44-47].

3. Be addicted to bible reading and daily meditation [Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:9-11; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Pet 2:2]. If you want to overcome temptation, you cannot do less of reading, studying, memorising, praying, and doing the word of God. You also need to read the daily devotionals, such as the one we published monthly titled ‘Daily Pulpit’ authored by me.

4. Be Diligent In Prayer [1 Thess.5:17; Eph.6:18; Romans 12:12; Luke 18:1]. You must have a personal hour of prayer apart from the ones you join in fellowship. Learn to wake up in midnight to pray. It will help you to grow above sin. It will empower you to overcome evil.

5. Learn to say NO to sinful suggestions, pressures, and invitations[Prov.1:10; Gen. 39:7-12; Eph. 5:11-12]. This is how Joseph, Daniel, Samuel, the 3 Hebrews, and even our Lord Jesus overcame in their times.

6. Be involved in Christian Service[Romans 12:11; Acts 20:19-21]. You must not stand idle as a child of God, for an idle hand is the devil’s tool. The best way to keep yourself free from sinful friends is to witness Christ to others who are still in sin. Let your old sinner friends know of your new faith through witnessing Christ to them, or at least inviting them to the community of believers [the church] where you worship.

7. Discern and keep in touch regularly with a mature Christian who will serve as your mentor [1Tim.1:2; 2:1-2]. See such as a spiritual father and seek counsel on a regular basis with such.  

 

CONCLUSION: 

In conclusion, therefore, since you also have this witness within you that fornication and masturbation are irritating and sinful, whereby you are reading this mail, I will want you to determine to pay any price whatsoever to get free from this satanic menace. Fornication is very deadly. It kills physically, morally, spiritually, materially, and otherwise . Masturbation is an agent of the spirit husband/wife to keep you perpetually joined to the evil man/woman. Masturbation weakens moral sense and destroys the sense of purity and holiness; it makes a person rough, dirty, and stinking before God. It weakens the moral resistance ability. As long as one practices it, it is difficult, if not impossible, to be free from the spirit of a husband/wife. It will rub you of your destiny in God. Be warned!