Refocus your attention on something else.It may surprise
you that nowherein the Bible are we told to “resist temptation.”
We are told to “resist the devil,”^1 but that is very different, as I’ll
explain later. Instead, we are advised to refocus our attention
because resisting a thought doesn’t work. It only intensifies our
focus on the wrong thing and strengthens its allure. Let me
explain:
Every time you try to block a thought out of your mind, you
drive it deeper into your memory. By resisting it, you actually
reinforce it. This is especially true with temptation. You don’t
defeat temptation by fighting the feeling of it. The more you fight
a feeling, the more it consumes and
controls you. You strengthen it
every time you think it.
Since temptation always begins
with a thought, the quickest way to
neutralize its allure is to turn your
attention to something else. Don’t
fight the thought, just change the
channel of your mind and get interested in another idea. This is
the first step in defeating temptation.
The battle for sin is won or lost in your mind. Whatever gets
your attention will get you. That’s why Job said, “I made a
covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman.”^2
And David prayed, “Keep me from paying attention to what is
worthless.”^3
Have you ever watched a food advertisement on television and
suddenly felt you were hungry? Have you ever heard someone
cough and immediately felt the need to clear your throat? Ever
watched someone release a big yawn and felt the urge to yawn
yourself? (You may be yawning right now as you read this!) That
is the power of suggestion. We naturally move toward whatever
we focus our attention on. The more you think about something,
the stronger it takes hold of you.
The Purpose-Driven Life 210The battle for sin is won or lost
in your mind. Whatever gets
your attention will get you.