Ways To Overcome Temptation
How to overcome temptation
As a mom, I am sure you have seen this situation before: your toddler is on the verge of doing something she should not do. She looks around first before she starts to do it. You are watching her, but she does not know you are there. She is about to do it. She is debating about it, not doing it yet, but thinking about it. It might be grabbing a cookie off the plate of cookies after she already had two. Or she might be holding a crayon (or marker!) as she thinks about what to draw on the wall. She is on the verge of action, yet she has paused.
She is tempted to do something she knows she should not do. Our conscience often causes us to pause before we do something we should not do. We are tempted, but we often pause. Should we do it? Should we not? Why should we? Why should we not do it?
When we are faced with the temptation to sin, we can use different tools to help us avoid sin.
Temptation is not the same as sin. Sin is the action if we follow through on the temptation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church number 538 explains it this way: “Temptation: An attraction, either from outside oneself or from within, to act contrary to right reason and the commandments of God. Jesus himself during his life on earth was tempted, put to the test, to manifest both the opposition between himself and the devil and the triumph of his saving work over Satan.”
We can learn how to overcome temptation. Since we have a fallen nature due to original sin, the temptation is a trial we face in this life. We can fill a spiritual arsenal with weapons to help combat temptation so we can do our best to avoid sin.
Pray to help avoid sin when you are tempted.
Of course, you knew I was going to say to pray! Prayer is so powerful. Short prayers are perfect for this situation. Here are some ideas of short prayers you can use to help you overcome temptation:
Jesus, help me to avoid this temptation. Amen.
Jesus, thank you for helping me to avoid falling into sin. Amen.
Mary, pray for me. Amen.
Guardian angel, thank you for watching out for me. Amen.
(Name of your patron saint), pray for me to stay close to God and avoid sin. Amen.
Any prayer you pray can help you in two ways:
- You are calling on the power of God to help you.
- You are focusing on God instead of the temptation or sin.
Prayer is powerful. Jesus tells us to pray. He teaches us the Our Father prayer in Matthew chapter 6. Jesus loves us so much He died for us so we can be in Heaven with Him. He wants us to be in Heaven with Him. He wants to help us.
Praying also shows God we have faith and trust in Him to help us to avoid sin. He will help us. We need to do our part to avoid sin and trust in Him to help us, too. Jesus is a powerful companion and aide.
Repeat Bible verses to help avoid sin when you are tempted.
The Bible is the Word of God. Reciting Bible verses when you are tempted to sin is helpful.
There are two ways the Bible can help you:
- You can say Bible verses you have memorized.
- Read the Bible.
When the temptation to sin is one you need to combat immediately, saying a Bible verse you have memorized is a great help. You can repeat the same Bible verse as many times as you need to. Or, you can say many different Bible verses.
Here are some great Bible verses you can use:
“You shall fear the Lord your God, and you shall serve him alone.” Deuteronomy 6: 13b
“And do what is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may be well with you, and so that, when you enter, you may possess the excellent land, about which the Lord swore to your fathers that he would wipe away all your enemies before you, just as he has spoken.” Deuteronomy 6: 18-19
“For he has given his Angels charge over you, so as to preserve you in all your ways. With their hands, they will carry you, lest you hurt your foot against a stone.” Psalm 91: 11-12
When you know you are tempted and need to keep yourself distracted and focused on something else, reading the Bible is very helpful. Reading Proverbs, the Psalms, or Jesus’ words in a Gospel may be the most helpful. This focuses your mind back on God and learning about His goodness and what He asks us to do, how He instructs us to live.
Sing to help avoid sin when you are tempted.
Music is a great way to speak to God and get your mind off our temptations. Best Inspirational Christian Songs has a list of and links to many great songs.
Two of my favorites are “Your Grace is Enough” by Catholic artist Matt Maher and “I Am” by David Crowder.
Get up and move.
Physically moving can help. Get up and move to change your environment or your posture. If you are sitting, stand up and walk around. If you are standing, you walk to another area, jog in place, or do push-ups.
The point of moving is to change the posture you are in when you are tempted to sin. this helps get your mind off the temptation and focused on something else.
Avoid temptation as best you can.
Another way to help overcome temptation is to avoid it. This is not always possible, but it is helpful to do so as much as much as we possibly can. In the Act of Contrition, we pray “I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasion of sin.” We “avoid the near occasion of sin” when we do our best to avoid temptations as well.
Receive the Sacraments.
Receiving the Sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Confession help to strengthen our faith and give us graces (supernatural help) to avoid sin and stay strong against temptations.
Some more ideas to help you overcome temptation and avoid sin are:
Say “no” out loud.
Take deep breaths. You can pray: “Jesus” as you breathe in and “help me” as you breathe out. This technique is helpful when trying to control your words or your temper when your kids or someone is getting on your nerves.
Offer a sacrifice to God. This may be something you can do at the moment or something you do soon. It can be something you give up (like a dessert) or something you add to your day (like doing an extra act of kindness for someone).
You can overcome temptation.
Jesus loves you so much! He wants you to be in Heaven with Him. He will help you in your efforts to overcome temptations. One way to show your love for God is to do your best to turn to Him and overcome temptation by turning away from sin.
One way to do this is to have a plan. When you know wich of the tools you will use to help you avoid sin when you are tempted, you are ready to use them. Will you pray, quote the Bible, sing, get up and move, or use a different tool to help you? Decide ahead of time what you will do so that when you are facing temptation, you already know how you will handle it.
God is with you.
What works for you in overcoming temptation? Please share your tools in the comments below so we can learn from and help each other.
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