Every Christian faces temptations, and they can come in all different shapes and sizes. The lay workman may be tempted to call his boss something vulgar. The pastor may be tempted to give up on his ministry. The teenager may be tempted to watch pornography. The believing sister may be tempted to keep quiet about the gospel in conversations with her unbelieving brother. Whatever the temptation may be, this facts stands true: we all face temptations. 

So the first thing to understand is that you should not despair when you face temptations, because everyone has them. Scripture says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man” (1 Cor. 10:13a). Paul says here that there isn’t a single temptation that only you are facing. All of mankind faces them. It is even a temptation within a temptation to believe that we are the only ones who struggle with certain sins or desires. But the Bible clearly teaches that believers are still fighting sin, and thus, all face temptations. So don’t feel like you’re the only one.

Secondly, you need to understand that temptation can be overcome.  Turning again to 1 Corinthians, Paul continues: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (v. 13b). The hope we can have in our temptations is that God is faithful, and that He has provided “the way of escape.” While God does not cause temptations (James 1:13), He does want you to endure them and come out victoriously. And the way He does this is by providing for us the way of escape. But we must be willing to take that route and pursue His way of escape. I have a few practical, biblical suggestions for overcoming temptation in your life and fleeing through God’s way of escape:

1) Study and know yourself. It’s good to take a long look in the mirror sometimes isn’t it? We need to know what desires we have a problem with and what situations or people cause us to enter into temptation. What desires do you have a problem with? Find out what situations, places, or people, cause you to have desires for sin. Study and know yourself well. Ask God to reveal that to you as well. Pray with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24).

2) Avoid tempting situations. Keep yourself away from the situations that cause you to sin against God and fall into temptations. You know it does no good to pray, “Lord deliver me from evil,” if we thrust ourselves into it. I heard an old preacher say, “You can’t pray “Deliver me, Lord, from temptation,” if you thrust yourself thither!” Avoid the situations that cause temptations. Don’t park a freshly washed car under a tree full of birds. In other words, don’t try to be clean when you willingly go into areas that will make you dirty! The writer of Proverbs presents a picturesque warning for us concerning flirting around with sin, “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and not be burned?” (Proverbs 6:27). Indeed not.

3) Submit to Christ. When we get saved, we make Jesus our Savior and Lord. He is our Savior because He saved us from death, hell, and the grave. He is our Lord because He takes control. But that’s the part that gets us sometimes. There may be areas of our heart that we haven’t submitted to Christ and made Him Lord over. But we must submit to His leadership and will and allow Him to take control of all the areas of our heart—including our desires. It is taking “every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

4) Get satisfaction from God. Desires seek to be satisfied. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be desires. So since desire is the problem, then our desires need to change. How can that be done? By getting our satisfaction from God. If you don’t believe that God can satisfy you, David invites you to “Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8). Similarly David says to “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). It’s like eating your favorite food—you keep eating it because of the satisfaction it brings your belly! When you get hungry, don’t you desire your favorite food? Of course you do, because you have a mental remembrance of the satisfaction it brings. It works in a similar way with God. If we will get our satisfaction from Him, we will inevitably begin to desire Him.

5) Walk by the Spirit. Paul says in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” He says that if we will live each step of our lives submitted to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, we will not fulfill or carry out our sinful desires. The Spirit of God lives in us to enable us to live the Christian life victoriously and He will give us the power to overcome sin if we will submit to Him and walk by Him.

Friend, do not despair. Every believer faces temptations, and every believer can overcome temptations by taking God’s way of escape. Are you willing?

For further study, see Sin’s Greatest Weapon, Empowered to Fight Through Walking by the Spirit, and What Happens if a Christian Gives in to Temptation?