Gen Z vs. Temptation: PART II

[Read Part I Here]

Fighting Temptation

1. Trusting HIS Promises over Your Perceptions.

No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

1. Promise #1: GOD wants to help you fight temptation.

   1. How? He provides us with reminders and instructions on how we should live.

2. Promise #2: GOD will always provide a way out.

   1. But what kind of escape does he promise? God’s escape is almost always a promise to trust.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5–6

1. GOD will offer you a way out… and it requires you to be honest with yourself and honest with Him.

2. GOD will offer you a way out… but He doesn’t promise that the way out will be easy or popular.

   1. In fact, most often the way out means that you are the lone person making that decision or not going to that party or not hanging with those friends.

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Your Battleplan

Receive: To be able to wield the Sword of the SPIRIT, you must know the TRUTH which only comes from being surrounded in and by the WORD of GOD - receiving it into your mind, heart, and soul as you would food for the body.

Recognize: Before temptation even arises, take time to identify the things that are most tempting to you, such as certain situations, vices, friends that cause temptation, etc.

Resist: Every day we must make innumerable decisions to steer clear of the things, situations, people, etc. that we already know causes us temptation.

Reevaluate: When tempted, take a step back and PRAY! Ask GOD to help you reevaluate the temptation - not with the eyes of your flesh, but with the TRUTH of His Word.

Request: In this very important moment, ASK GOD to show you the way out!

Remove: Take that way out!

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And when we’ve failed and fallen into sin, we are invited to go straight to the cross where our canceled sin has been paid in full.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9

So today, let’s trust that Jesus, “who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), will provide a way of escape that is more persistent (Hebrews 13:5), far more powerful (1 John 4:4), and far more satisfying (Hebrews 11:25–26) than what our “common to man” temptations are promising.