Dealing With Temptations
At a point in the life of anyone, they will be tempted to do what is not right, at least everyone has experienced it. There is nothing wrong with temptations coming your way, at least it proves your existence. What is bad is when you have allowed yourself to be overwhelmed by the temptation. At that point, many people will start to give excuses why they fell into the temptation but there are always ways to avoid it.
First of all, I want to tell you that you will hardly get tempted by what you are not interested in. This is why temptation, most times, feasts on our desires. For example, if I am not drawn to a particular food, I cannot fall if being tempted by that food, but if I am tempted by something I have been wanting to have, then the temptation already has a foothold. Also, temptations, more often than not, starts from the heart as little thoughts and then grows into actions. This is why we need to guard our thoughts to ward off negative thoughts.
Once you start entertaining unwholesome thoughts, it will not be long and the thoughts will mature into unwholesome acts and by then, you have fallen into temptation. A friend of mine once made this statement in a gathering I was privilege to attend, he said:
Until you kill evil thoughts, you cannot stop evil acts.
The truth is, temptations do not appear as "two-headed monster". They always appear subtly and may be appealing when seen peripherally so as to attract you. Remember that "not everything that shines like diamond is actually diamond", some may just be pebbles disguising as diamonds just to entice your heart. So guard your heart.
When trying to guard your heart against evil thoughts that will lead to falling into temptation, you also need to beware of the kind of people you hang around with and the company you keep. Your thoughts (and ultimately your actions) can be heavily influenced by your friends and if your will is not strong enough, you may give in to their peer pressures. No wonder it has been said popularly that:
Show me your friend and I can tell you the kind of person you are
To avoid temptations, the first thing to do is to avoid what may lead you to the temptation and avoid all appearances of the temptation. If going out with certain friends always ends up with you doing something that you always regret, then it will be wise to avoid such friendship, because doing that wrong thing for long may sear your conscience. Always have it in mind that the responsibility to avoid temptation is entirely yours and it is a product of the choices you make, so make the right choice.
Thanks for reading
This is a beautiful write up. You're right, the responsibility to avoid temptation is entirely up to us. We have to avoid situations that could make us fall easily to temptations. In life, almost everyone has those friends, that when you spend time with them, you always end up doing something wrong. You can't resist their pressure. Best thing to do then is to completely avoid such a friend. You must choose your friends wisely.
There's a quote by Warren Buffett that says "The chains of bad habits are too light, until they're too heavy to break". What this means in connection to your post is that little evil thoughts, end up leading to big evils. Hence, we must guard our minds. And it's entirely our responsible to do so. Thanks for sharing!
I love that quote made by Warren Buffett. I think this quote applies here. Thanks a lot for this insight buddy
This isn't a typical topic in leadership books, but I am glad you touched it! There is also a saying that you cannot hinder the bird from flying above your head, but you can stop it from building a nest on your head!
The temptations will come, but you are the one allowing them to turn into action and to move into your brain! So, stop them as quickly as possible... and surround yourself with people helping you move in the right direction!
That's right. Temptations, just like birds, cannot be stopped from flying around but you can stop them from making their next on your head.
Thanks a lot for the comment buddy
Hello dear friend, the truth is that we have all been tempted at some point, but I think it also has to do with willpower, self-control, for example, a person who wants to lose weight and loves chocolate, that person is clear that he must stay away from everything that can fail in his new diet. Sometimes it can be difficult, but not impossible. It all depends on each one of us! Greetings!
That's the truth. Overcoming temptation may look hard but it is not impossible. That's why we should have self-control, discipline and willpower. Thanks friend
Hello @samminator.
It seems that the morela of what you teach us friend, is that temptations can be the origin of our bad actions, it is therefore propitious to move away from temptation to start acting according to good actions.
Greetings and thank you for your contribution.
In the bible it says to flee from temptation, I imagine they say flee rather than "resist temptation" because if a person is exposed to temptation for too long they will eventually fall, so it is better to remove yourself from the stimulus that causes temptation so that you don't have to pit your will against your desire.
Hi @samminator
I agree that it is impossible to be tempted by something you don't like or like, you will hardly want to approach something. Having your mind focused on values, I think it helps to keep you away from certain things, of course, as long as you want it toaa.
Temptation is surely going to happen to everyone at a point in their lives but then the need for self discipline which will give us the strength to overcome temptations.