It’s a normal thing to struggle with temptations; that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. We are all human, and we try to do our best, but somehow those little temptations subtly slip in and derail our progress and make us feel like we’re failing. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s a big temptation we give into, and we end up making choices that have a significant negative impact on our lives.

I’ve been there. I know what it feels like to give in to temptation and do something that I instantly and deeply regret. I know that the regret and hurt from giving in to temptation is never worth whatever I gained by giving in to the worse parts of my nature. I know what it feels like to never want to experience that self-disappointment and regret again.

Now, I’m much better at avoiding temptation. It’s been a long time since I’ve done something I really regretted, and that wasn’t because of good luck. It was strategic.

There are ways that I know of that can help prevent us from giving in to temptations. It’s simple, and effective, and all it takes is a bit of self-knowledge and self-control. Not only am I going to tell you how to avoid that temptation, but I’ll provide you with a list of actionable steps to help you apply these ideas.

Don’t put yourself in that position.

First, know what it is that you struggle with. I heard Pastor Joby Martin from the Church of Eleven22 and a table of great men on the Deepen podcast talk about a technique they use to prevent putting yourself in a position to be tempted. Everyday is a spiritual battle, so it is wise to arm yourself with the weapons you can use to win against temptation everyday.

Jeff Foxworthy brought up this technique on the Deepen podcast, and he termed it self-scouting. Here is a link to watch the video: A Conversation on Biblical Manhood – Stand Firm and Act like Men.

The way to gain the self-knowledge to know what temptations you struggle with is easy.

Step 1: Write down, “If I was the devil, how would I beat me?” That is the question Jeff Foxworthy asks himself to gain the self-knowledge to clarify what he struggles with.

Step 2: Underneath that line, list out all the ways you would sabotage yourself if you were the devil, and your ultimate goal was to destroy yourself spiritually and ruin your life.

That’s a tough list to write and to look at. Why? Because it exposes all of our shortcomings and struggles and we don’t like thinking about all the ways we fall short of how God wants us to be, or of how we fall short of the ideals we hold for ourselves.

It requires being honest and sacrificing your pride. It hurts to look at yourself as flawed, but to know those things about yourself is powerful, so powerful that it arms you with the knowledge you need to start winning those spiritual battles.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

-Sun Tzu, The Art of War

If you know where your weaknesses are, and you know how the enemy would attack your weaknesses, then you are armed with the knowledge necessary to strategically place yourself so you won’t end up in those positions where you are the weakest. Don’t be where the temptation is, and you win the battle.

One thing I have struggled with, and that I know many people struggle with, is alcohol. If having a drink is tempting to me, and I know that if I was the devil, then alcohol would be one of the ways that I would get to me, then I need to have enough self-knowledge to recognize that fact and then not put myself in a position to consume alcohol.

Not to toot my own horn too much, but I’m usually a pretty awesome guy. However, I know that most of my worst moments, when I lose emotional control, or when I make rash or irresponsible decisions, and the most common circumstances when I give into temptations is when I have been drinking.

Even when I’m not making profoundly dumb decisions from being under the influence, drinking sets me back from making progress with my exercise, and it robs me of my time and the good attitude that comes with not feeling like crap the next day.

Being under the influence makes me lack self-control, and there are few things more important than self-control and fewer things that have a larger impact on your quality of life than self-control.

So, I have to put myself in a position to avoid that temptation. That means if I had a bad day and I’m tempted to drink, then I avoid places that serve alcohol. I’m eating at home. I’m not stopping at the store because I know if I walk past alcohol, then I might buy some.

It means not going out to drink unless I’m with my wife because I know being around her motivates me to use self-control because I love her and I want to be a good man for her.

That means not being in contact with friends that like to go drink on that bad day. That means only keeping alcohol in my house that is there for an occasion, or if it is there, then drink it when there’s a good reason to enjoy a drink.

Sure, I fail, and sometimes more often than I would want to admit, but I’m having more wins than losses, and because I defend my position, when I do fail, it’s not as bad as it could be.

Put yourself in the right position. We are at war in the spirit everyday, and in warfare, finding the right position to fight from is an essential strategy. Sometimes not putting yourself in that position to be tempted means positioning yourself on the opposite side of the field. The way I do that with my drinking example is that when I have that bad day, the first thing that I do when I get home is workout.

I exercise because I know that we need to exercise to exorcise those bad emotions out of my heart and mind. And I know that once I’m done with my workout, not only will I feel better, but I’ll be motivated to maintain healthy habits, and drinking is not a healthy habit. I relieve stress through exercise and the motivation to relieve stress through drinking alcohol is substantially reduced.

Sometimes that means putting myself in a position of more responsibility because I know that if I am responsible for something more important than my urge to drink, then I won’t drink. Sometimes that means taking on more responsibility at my job, sometimes that means obligations to my family or wanting to be ready to work on a project that I’m excited about.

Find something more important that you can be grateful for, and then don’t put yourself in a position to jeopardize that. We have all prayed for things that we want, and sometimes we finally get those things, only to ruin it because we gave into temptation.

Remember what you prayed for, and never put yourself in a position to jeopardize it.

One of the things that many people struggle with is lust. If you know that is one of the temptations you fall for, then don’t put yourself in a position to give into it.

On the Deepen podcast, Jeff Foxworthy talked about how he knew that if he was drinking, and he saw an attractive woman, that the temptation would be too great for him and he would get himself into trouble. He saw what that did to his father’s life, and he knows that he has the same nature.

So, he just doesn’t go and get that drink. He calls someone he can talk to or he prays, but he doesn’t put himself in that position, which is at the bar with a drink in hand next to a pretty woman, so he goes to his room. Foxworthy puts himself in the right position (his room) and avoids the position of temptation (at the bar next to a pretty woman).

That’s what so many men and women do wrong: they put themselves in the position to be tempted. They pray for a partner, and then when they finally have that partner, they put themselves in a position to ruin what they prayed for. Never put yourself in a position to jeopardize what you prayed for.

Foolish people jeopardize their most important relationships by going to bars or clubs and drinking when they know they have a problem with drinking and lust. Or they spend too much time with a coworker they like, knowing full well the feeling is mutual. What do you think is going to happen? Nothing good, that’s for sure.

Or maybe they ruin a good relationship by messaging people online that they know they shouldn’t be talking to, or by visiting websites they know they shouldn’t be on. And then when their lustful deeds are exposed, they are reminded of the brutal truth that the consequences of losing what you prayed for are never worth the pleasure gained from lustful temptation.

If you have a problem with lust, then don’t put yourself in a position to be tempted by it. Restrict your apps, unfollow people you know you only follow for lustful purposes. Don’t hang out with that coworker if you know it will lead to sexual temptation. Don’t go to bars and clubs and drink if you know that you might make decisions that can hurt your relationship.

Some people pray for the job they want and then ruin it by giving in to the temptation to be lazy, or to violate their integrity and cut corners or make bad decisions, and they end up getting fired.

Some people pray for that expensive new thing like a house or a car, but lose it because they couldn’t avoid the temptation of compulsively spending. They spend their money on whatever they want until they can no longer afford the thing they prayed for. Or maybe they gave into the temptation to be lazy or irresponsible and they lost that thing because they failed to maintain and care for it.

Play the position that you want to be in. I want to be strong man so I don’t put myself in a position to be unhealthy or weak. I want to be a good husband and a good father, so I don’t put myself in a position to jeopardize those relationships. I want to be good at my job so I study and prepare and put in the necessary time and effort, and I avoid putting myself in positions that will compromise my integrity.

If you want to be a good man or woman, know what that means to you, and then play that position. You can do something similar to your “ways I would beat me if I was the devil” list and make a “the person I think God would want me to be list.” Like Sun Tzu said, know your enemy, and know yourself.

It’s a lot easier to avoid temptation when you know exactly who you want to be.

Step 3: Write “If I was God, who would I have made myself to be?”

Step 4: Underneath that line, write down a list of how you would act, what you would do, the character qualities you would have, etc. You need to clarify what position you should be playing to avoid the positions that compromise your character and lead you to temptation. Put yourself where you need to be.

Find people you can trust to help defend your position. In the game of chess, the strategy is to use the position of different pieces to defend the king, and how well you can position your other pieces greatly determines the outcome of the game. The same concept applies to the people in your life. The devil doesn’t play checkers with you, he plays chess.

One of the other techniques a member of the table on the Deepen podcast discussed was to self-sabotage. As soon as he recognized he was struggling with temptation, he called his accountability partner and basically told on himself and his accountability partner provided the backup he needed to not go through with it.

Call someone you can trust in that moment of weakness and be vulnerable enough to tell the truth. Let them help you re-enforce the position you should be in. If that’s an accountability partner, then great. If that’s your mom or dad or wife or husband or your best friend, then that’s awesome. So long as you have someone who wants the best for you and isn’t afraid to tell you you’re going down the wrong path.

Find someone you don’t put up a prideful front with so you don’t put on a mask when you talk to them. Find someone who won’t judge you when you tell them the truth about what’s actually going on. It’s nearly impossible to be accountable for your actions when you’re the only one who knows about it or the only one there to stop you before you commit a sin.

It can be hard to find those people you can trust, but without them, you are alone, and the man or woman who stands alone is easy to defeat. Everyday is a spiritual war, and you don’t want to go to battle alone. If you don’t feel like you have a few trusted people to help defend your position, then make a genuine effort to find them, or build them from your current relationships.

It’s terrifying to be exposed and vulnerable and open yourself up to people, but the alternative is to be alone and still be exposed and vulnerable to the devil, and he wants to destroy you. You need allies in the world of spiritual warfare. If someone is willing to be that person for you, be that person for them as well. Protect each other.

Don’t put yourself in that position.

Self-scout.

Know yourself, and know what your weaknesses are.

Make your lists.

Play the right position.

Know who you want to be.

Find people you can trust to keep you accountable.

Self-sabotage.

Like what you read? Subscribe to get the latest content!

Support the Eclectic Method and get cool stickers in return! Click the banner or the link below to shop on the Eclectic Method store at stickermule.com and get a $10 credit! Search @theeclecticmethod and browse for unique designs and artwork created by the author. 

https://www.stickermule.com/theeclecticmethod

Related Content:

How to be Accountable: The Admired Observer