"Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ."
Alma 37:33
We hear a lot about withstanding temptation, but less so on *how.* I like this scripture, because it gives us some insight into that question. The instructions are simple, but important... mainly it is faith. If we are trying to withstand temptation alone, that is half the problem. We NEED God's help, and his support. Getting and keeping the spirit will help with that. Repentance and humility help with that.
We need to be meek and lowly in heart. I think in part that means that we need to recognize our need for God's help. Keeping the spirit will help us to be sensitive to its loss... and recognize our need to get it back. That helps us with temptation right there... if we're constantly talking to God and aware of how far away we are from him and our relationship to him, it is a lot harder to fit temptation in... and a lot easier to scare it off.
Prayer is also an act of faith. Believing in God enough to act on it and talk to him. That's a great start. Today, let's work on our faith any way we can. If we don't have any other ways handy, let's pray. :) ... And as we work on our faith, we'll also be working on our temptation resistance. Great how everything fits together that way. :)
Alma 37:33
We hear a lot about withstanding temptation, but less so on *how.* I like this scripture, because it gives us some insight into that question. The instructions are simple, but important... mainly it is faith. If we are trying to withstand temptation alone, that is half the problem. We NEED God's help, and his support. Getting and keeping the spirit will help with that. Repentance and humility help with that.
We need to be meek and lowly in heart. I think in part that means that we need to recognize our need for God's help. Keeping the spirit will help us to be sensitive to its loss... and recognize our need to get it back. That helps us with temptation right there... if we're constantly talking to God and aware of how far away we are from him and our relationship to him, it is a lot harder to fit temptation in... and a lot easier to scare it off.
Prayer is also an act of faith. Believing in God enough to act on it and talk to him. That's a great start. Today, let's work on our faith any way we can. If we don't have any other ways handy, let's pray. :) ... And as we work on our faith, we'll also be working on our temptation resistance. Great how everything fits together that way. :)
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