The Secret to Resisting Temptation: Thank God for What You Have

Read Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3:1-7. Do you try to keep up with Joneses? Or do you look over the fence and think the grass is greener over there?

One of Satan’s biggest strategies for tempting us to sin is to make us doubt God’s goodness to us. That’s what he did to Eve. He got her thinking that God was being strict, stingy, and selfish by telling her and Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why would God want to keep their eyes closed and their minds ignorant like that?

By introducing this doubt to Eve, Satan succeeded in getting Eve to forget all that God had given her. She lived in a beautiful garden. She could eat from any tree in it, except one. God had given her and Adam stewardship over all the animals and plants in the garden and had encouraged them to multiply over the earth. He was close to them and walked in the garden with them. But suddenly, as Eve focused on what God had forbidden rather than all he had given, it wasn’t enough. The countless blessings and promises seemed worthless.

Satan tries to do the same with us. If he can get us feeling sorry for ourselves for all we don’t have, then he has a chance to persuade us to doubt God and all his goodness to us.

The next time that happens, choose to focus on all you do have and thank God for it. When you list everything you’re grateful for, your reminded just how generous and loving God is. That’s a fantastic way to resist temptation!

THINK IT OVER

Think about the following:

•        What are the first three things that come to mind for which you are grateful?