Temptation

James 1:13-15 says, When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Read that again, this time out loud. Now take a moment to process what this is saying. How many of us pass blame on our weakness? When we fall to temptation, who do we ultimately accuse? Every time I give in to sin, I immediately start looking for someone or something to accuse for my problems. I often ask God why He puts me in situations that He knows I am weak at. Truth is, it is my fault. I am the one who allows myself to be tempted by my own sinful desire. If I were an alcoholic, would going to social gatherings where alcohol is served be a wise choice? If my struggle was with lust of the flesh, would looking at porn be the right thing to do? If I worshiped money so much that I overworked myself to gain as much as possible be healthy? These are all circumstances that we allow our desires to control. The best advice would be to simply not put ourselves in conditions where we will be tempted. That's easier said than done though.
Whenever I am feeling the pressures of temptation, the first thing that I try to do is to get alone with God, pick up the Word and read what scripture has to say about the situation. And if I don't have a Bible available and am unable to get alone at the moment, I just simply close my eyes and pray, no matter how weird it looks to others who may be watching. For some, doing this might bring feelings of guilt. God does not want us to live in guilt, that is called condemnation, and that my friends comes from the enemy. God convicts us in our guilt (sins) and asks us what we have learned from it so that we can move on and grow from it.
Remember, God cannot be tempted! He is the ultimate example of strength. He gives us authority to be strong. In moments of weakness, we are called to lean and rely on Him. Once we make this a habit, our temptations will be easier to overcome. There will always be temptation as long as there is an enemy to throw it at us. We owe it to ourselves to be warriors for God and to fight the Good fight.

Peace!