SIN :: Advice & help overcoming sin - The Bible on sin,temptation & sinful lust

Sin and the Bible

Prayer strengthens us against temptation & sin. Mark 14:38, NIV. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Don't allow yourself to be pressured one way or another-be honest and think for yourself. Exodus 23:2-3, TLB. "Don't join mobs intent on evil. When on the witness stand, don't be swayed in your testimony by the mood of the majority present, and do not slant your testimony in favor of a man just because he is poor."

When you are faced with a temptation, run the other direction. II Timothy 2:22, TLB. "Run from anything that gives you the evil thoughts that young men often have, but stay close to anything that makes you want to do right. Have faith and love, and enjoy the companionship of those who love the Lord and have pure hearts."

Meet temptation with God's Word. Matthew 4:1,3,4, NIV. "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The tempter came to Him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread: Jesus answered, "It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Misery and sin love company.Proverbs 4:14-16, TLB. "Don't do as the wicked do. Avoid their haunts, turn away, go somewhere else, for evil men can't sleep until they've done their evil deed for the day. They can't rest unless they cause someone to stumble and fall."

If you love God worldly things won't have much appeal.I John 2:15-17, TLB. "Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God; for all these worldly things, these evil desires -the craze for sex, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance -these are not from God. They are from this evil world itself. And this world is fading away, and these evil, forbidden things will go with it, but whoever keeps doing the will of God will live forever."

You cannot enjoy worldly pleasures and be a friend of God. James 4:4, TLB. "You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband's enemies. Don't you realize that making friends with God's enemies -the evil pleasures of this world-makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God."

What kind of activities are wrong? Galatians 5:19-21, TLB. "But when you follow your own inclinations your lives will produce evil results: impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, spiritism, hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, and all that sort of thing. Let me tell you again as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Live as though your home were in heaven. I Peter 2:11, TLB. "Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is in heaven, I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls."