{"id":29536,"date":"2021-01-05T11:01:22","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T17:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=29536"},"modified":"2021-01-05T13:30:18","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T19:30:18","slug":"how-do-i-battle-temptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-battle-temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"How do I battle temptation?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Good Day!<\/p>\n<p>I have been a patron and a reader of your website for about a few months now, and I have found your answers to be good and your knowledge of the Bible is great. I have to say, your website has been a great deal of help to me, in which I say my thanks.<\/p>\n<p>I am very young, to be exact I&#8217;m a high schooler. I have recently been reconnecting and talking with others in the Christian Community and now I put God and His Word into great focus. Now as I said, I am very young, therefore very easily tempted into sin and its deceptive power against me. As I read through your website, I have gotten a really good understanding of what sins are. And therefore I realize what sins I have been doing. I confessed these to the Lord and I&#8217;ve been making an act to change. So here I present to you a spiritual battle against temptation. I ask you: How do I combat temptation and sin in general?<\/p>\n<p>Another thing that I want to ask about is combat against the evil one. As I explored your website, I have seen some, disturbed people who have set about to do the works of the evil one. Now since I was born and even now, I have had a sincere disgust and discomfort whenever it comes to evil things. I have always been disturbed by the evil one, that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m not saying his wicked name. Now many intrusively unwanted thoughts shower upon me once in a while, which makes me feel very very uncomfortable. How do I set about conquering those unwanted thoughts and have my mind clear of the evil one&#8217;s wickedness?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>It is good to hear from young people who sincerely want to follow after God. Since I don&#8217;t know your background, my first recommendation is to dedicate yourself completely to Christ. For this, see:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-become-a-christian\/\">How to Become a Christian<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-saves-a-person\/\">What Saves a Person?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-must-i-do-to-be-saved-2\/\">What Must I do to be Saved?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It helps in battling a temptation to understand why you find certain things to be tempting. See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-nature-of-sin-temptation-and-lust\/\">The Nature of Sin, Temptation, and Lust<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A common problem is that we tend to focus on getting rid of sin, but that is only half of the problem. If sin is not replaced with something better, then we will lapse right back into it. &#8220;<em>Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, &#8216;I will return to my house from which I came&#8217;; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 12:43-45). Thus, when unwanted thoughts intrude, find better things to do that require your focus. &#8220;<em>Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded<\/em>&#8221; (James 4:7-8). Notice the contrasting actions. It takes both resisting the Devil and submitting to God in order to win.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, don&#8217;t give up improving yourself. &#8220;<em>Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world<\/em>&#8221; (I Peter 5:8-9).<\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t get into specifics since I don&#8217;t know what kind of temptations and thoughts you are struggling against, but these lay out the general ground rules for battling sin. If you want to discuss more specific problems, you are welcome to write again.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Response:<\/h2>\n<p>Hello! Thank you for your great response!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Good Day! I have been a patron and a reader of your website for about a few months now, and I have found your answers to be good and your knowledge of the Bible is great. I have to say, your website has been a great deal of help to me, in which I&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[967,185,97],"class_list":["post-29536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-pop-up-thoughts","tag-temptation","tag-thoughts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38966,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-like-the-answers-you-give-about-sexual-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":29536,"position":0},"title":"I don&#8217;t like the answers you give about sexual sins","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Sir, I was reading on your website a letter that a young woman had written to you\u00a0about feeling very guilty about going too far with her boyfriend. Being that she was away from home and at college with new friends she put God out of her life and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38807,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-sinning-if-im-cursing-in-my-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":29536,"position":1},"title":"Am I sinning if I&#8217;m cursing in my thoughts?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My boyfriend was just baptized and he's been struggling. He has a little bit of anxiety. He's been trying to work on his cursing. he's doing great. But he asked me a difficult question. He asked, \"Am I still sinning if I keep the cuss words in my brain?\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-obsessing-over-my-sinful-thoughts-what-can-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":29536,"position":2},"title":"I&#8217;m obsessing over my sinful thoughts. What can I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. I am a member of the church of Christ and have been for a while now. However I have been plagued by many tormenting, fearful, and bad thoughts on a daily basis. I have talked to many doctors, psychiatrists and church counselors who chalk it up to anxiety\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36825,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-i-say-to-a-young-woman-who-thinks-that-if-she-doesnt-intend-to-have-sex-then-when-it-happens-she-hasnt-sinned\/","url_meta":{"origin":29536,"position":3},"title":"What do I say to a young woman who thinks that if she doesn&#8217;t intend to have sex then when it happens she hasn&#8217;t sinned?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, A young adult I know has become a Christian when she was 15 years old and is now nearly 20.\u00a0\u00a0 She lives her life in fornication with various sexual partners.\u00a0 She has been struggling with this sin since she was a preteen.\u00a0 Her excuse is that it's a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50642,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-do-right-but-i-am-weak\/","url_meta":{"origin":29536,"position":4},"title":"I want to do right, but I am weak","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am writing to you about my life. I am in my forties. I have always known that I am a complete sinner. I want to do good, but weakness gets in my way. When I was young I was introduced to pornography. Recently I walked away from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44488,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-reason-my-life-is-going-downhill-because-of-my-sexual-sins-with-my-girlfriend\/","url_meta":{"origin":29536,"position":5},"title":"Is the reason my life is going downhill because of my sexual sins with my girlfriend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My girlfriend and I have been sexually active for some time now. We sought out advice from our pastor, who suggested we separate to refocus and rededicate our lives to Christ so that if and when reunited we would be better equipped to fight off temptation. We didn't follow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29536\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}