Fighting Temptation

Need help fighting temptation?  These verses will help you identify your temptations, understand where they come from, and learn how to fight them.

Matthew 13:22 (NCV)
22 And what is the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching but lets worries about this life and the temptation of wealth stop that teaching from growing. So the teaching does not produce fruit in that person’s life.

Matthew 13:22 (AMP)
22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit.

Matthew 26:40-41 (AMP)
40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour?
41 All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (NCV)
15 For our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin.16 Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it.

Luke 4:1-2 (NCV)
4 Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. The Spirit led Jesus into the desert 2 where the devil tempted Jesus for forty days. Jesus ate nothing during that time, and when those days were ended, he was very hungry.

Luke 4:3-4 (NCV)
3 The devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, tell this rock to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures: ‘A person does not live on bread alone.’”

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ERV)
13 The only temptations that you have are the same temptations that all people have. But you can trust God. He will not let you be tempted more than you can bear. But when you are tempted, God will also give you a way to escape that temptation. Then you will be able to endure it.

1 Thessalonians 3:5
This is why I sent Timothy to you, so that I could know about your faith. I sent him when I could not wait anymore. I was afraid that the devil who tempts people might have defeated you with temptations. Then our hard work would have been wasted.

1 Timothy 6:9
People who want to be rich bring temptations to themselves. They are caught in a trap. They begin to want many foolish things that will hurt them. These things ruin and destroy people.

James 1:12
Great blessings belong to those who are tempted and remain faithful! After they have proved their faith, God will give them the reward of eternal life. God promised this to all people who love him.