How do we resist the sexual temptations that we are experiencing right now? I'll give a quick answer, then a detailed answer in other posts. After all, we need the answer NOW! Here are three scriptures that give the answers:
1. Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee. (Resist spiritual temptation.)
2. Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. Those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. (Resist mental and emotional temptation.)
3. Flee sexual immorality! (Resist physical temptation.)
That is the very quick answer. Now I'll give very brief elaboration on the quick answers.
Temptation is spiritual, soulical, and physical. The spirit is the part of us that experiences God and angels, Satan and demons, and the spirits of other humans. It's the realm of intuition, dreams, "vibes," gut feelings.
A spiritual sexual temptation is invisible, intangible, inaudible, and feels insatiable and irresistible. It will have such power that one feels like one CANNOT resist. One CANNOT STOP THINKING about the temptation, the tempter, or the temptress. You feel like you are going to explode with passion. But you can't quite put your finger on exactly why. Yes, the person or situation is arousing, but there is something about the strength of the arousal that eludes you. This is demonic. The essence of every temptation is the submission of or resistance of the will. So with the will, one submits to the Spirit of God, and resists the demonic spirits behind the sexual temptation.
The soul is the realm of mind/imagination, emotions/passion, and will/volitions. If we set our minds on sex, letting sexual desire fuel the purpose of our lives, then temptation will defeat us. If we live to gratify sexual desires (or any physical desires for that matter,) we won't be able to resist. This is why we must set our minds on spiritual things/objects/subjects. Objects create emotions/passions. If you focus on a pleasing physical object, you will feel a corresponding pleasing feelings. A sunset arouses emotions that correspond to seeing a sunset. But if you focus on something a person said that was disrespectful, then you feel angry. The disrespectful person is the object that arouses displeasing feelings.
This is true for spiritual things as well as physical things. If you focus on spiritual things, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness, you will feel corresponding spiritual feelings. We feel what we think about. We act upon what we focus upon.
Physically, it is as simple as not looking or touching or being in the same vicinity. This is what "flee sexual immorality" means. It means to remove yourself from a situation where sexual temptation is even possible, let alone the actual sexual act. If you are never in the same place as the tempter or temptress, then you cannot see them, smell them, feel them, or be tempted by them in the first place. Now of course there are situations where avoidance is difficult. BUT IT WON'T BE IMPOSSIBLE.
So again.
1. Resist spiritual temptation by prayer.
2. Resist mental/emotional temptation by spiritual focus of the mind by the will.
3. Resist physical temptation by staying completely out of and far away from sexual temptation.
More to come......
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