Before you read this post, please read Matthew 4: 1-11.
All human beings are prone to temptations.
Every believer of Christ (and unbelievers too) battle sinful desires like the lust of the flesh, greed etc.
In this blog post, we'll see how Jesus dealt with temptations and overcame them successfully. This will help us (as believers) learn from Him and defeat temptations.
We'll learn it from the Word of God in Matthew 4:1-11 (this link contains the commentary as well for the verses), where we read about the temptations that Jesus Himself faced and overcame successfully when He lived in this world.
When we look at the incident in Matthew 4:1-11, we can notice one thing that Jesus used to defeat the temptations from the devil.
That thing is the Word of God.
To be more specific, that thing is the right application of the Word of God, The "right application" cannot be undermined as satan also twists the Word of God or uses it out of context to deceive us into sinning.
The more we meditate (not merely read) upon the word of God, the better we understand God's truth, and will be able to clearly differentiate between satan's lies and God's truth.
The human wisdom is not enough, but God's Word (and its right application) is required for us to decode the satan's silly tempting tricks and lies!
It might sound hard, but not really if we're putting consistent effort to meditate upon the Word of God and seek Him earnestly.
When we read the same incident in Luke's account (Luke 4:1-13), we can see that the satan left Jesus (after He successfully overcame the temptations) for an opportune time.
This clearly shows that temptations are not a one-time affair. The enemy (the satan) keeps coming back, trying to lure or deceive us (all human beings, especially believers in Christ) into sin.
So how do we overcome then? Consistency in meditating the Word of God and applying it the right way is the only path to defeat temptations.
I used to wonder why do I need to do consistently! God helped me recognize that I eat, sleep, work everyday for physical survival on this world. I'm not doing them only once and expect the results to last for lifetime.
Similarly, the Word of God is for our spiritual survival. We need to meditate upon it on a daily basis to recognize and defeat the devil's tricks.
Sometimes, despite struggling hard to overcome, one could yield to the temptations and fall into sin. If the person reading this is in that situation, here's what they should do:
First, seek God earnestly in prayer, and plead for His forgiveness. God is gracious enough to forgive and put them back on track.
Take the spiritual armor - the Word of God and meditate upon it daily, in order to defeat the temptations in future.
If you're wondering how to understand what God intends to teach you (from what you read in the Bible), here's a quick, 2-step guideline.