How do you handle temptation? What do you do when the negative voices in your head try to define you? Or when old, pleasurable, sinful moments call you back?
The first response is:
- Who are you trying to be?
- What life do you want to live?
- What do you want more than anything else?
Can you make a list of those things?
- I want to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind.
- I want to walk with Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit like they’re my best friends.
- I want deep, inner peace. I don’t want to be divided with a secret inner life.
- I want to live a life filled with grace and mercy.
- I want to have a song in my heart and a bounce in my step.
- I want to be curious and open to learning new things.
- I want to enjoy the natural high of a joy-filled moment.
- I want to stay committed to my wife even in the hardest of times.
- I want to learn great spiritual, emotional, and physical truths.
- And, when I look back I want to know I lived a great love story.
Remembering the big picture helps quiet all the inner chatter and makes temptation look petty.
Prayer
Father, sometimes my mind repeats tempting or tormenting things. I now make you Lord of my mind. Help my life mission be crystal clear. And, may my walk with you daily be soul refreshing. Amen.
Bible Connection
And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
Matthew 22:37 (LSB)