5 Ways to Live Outside the Enemy's GraspSample

Key 4: Resist the First Stirring of Temptation

No one is exempt from temptation. How do we know this? Because Jesus was in all manner tempted as we are, and yet he didn’t sin. Therefore, none of us is an exception to the rule: you WILL be tempted. 

When we’re tempted, however, we have to resist the first stirring of temptation. 

It doesn’t matter where you’re standing or what you’re doing. This applies to everybody—every age, every demographic, and every Christian, no matter how mature or immature. We all have to resist the first stirring of temptation. You have to resist the first stirring of temptation. We all do. 

It is safe to resist temptation, but it’s dangerous to dabble in temptation.

Can I share a testimony?

When I was about eighteen years old, I was already a Christian. I had been raised in a Christian home. I was playing music by the time I was six or seven years old; we were traveling on a bus to minister and all of that. But as I got older, I wanted to explore. 

Now, before I go further, let me say this: I'm not giving anybody permission to go explore by sharing this testimony. But, I am sharing this because I want you to see how dangerous it is to dabble in temptation. 

So, here’s what happened:

Because I was eighteen, and I was so rhythmic, I wanted to go “shake my groove thing.” I wanted to go to the club. I didn't want to go to the club to drink; I wanted to go to dance. I really liked to dance, and I could throw it down. 

So one day, I was down at a club in Myrtle Beach. They knew me by name at that club because I was going in every night. That last day, the song ended and I walked off the dance floor. I just had dabbled in temptation; that was all. But as I walked off the dance floor, there was a young man from my home church. The only thing he knew about me was who my parents were, and that I played the drums for our family's Gospel music group. He had never seen me in any other environment or anything. 

Well, I saw that man watching me on the dance floor. And when I came off the floor, he said to me, "I cannot believe I am seeing you in this club. I will never be able to see you any differently than how I've seen you tonight." 

I was horrified, and I got so convicted.

I did what I could to fix things with that man that night, and I have never gone “clubbing” since. Nevertheless, I have never lived that down, even all these years later. This just goes to show that it's better to resist temptation than to deal with the danger of dabbling in it.

I heard Jentezen Franklin preach a message about this once. He said, "You've got thirty seconds. You have a timeframe of thirty seconds to deny the temptation, because in thirty seconds your mind will change. No matter what the temptation is, if you can adjust your thought process within that thirty seconds, then you overcome the temptation."

We’ve got to resist temptation. 

God’s Word promises that we can resist temptation; it doesn’t say that we can resist sin once we begin dabbling in that temptation. So actually, the dabbling leads to the sin.

You may be thinking:

• "I'm strong enough. I'm just witnessing to him." 
• "No, I'm just going to take her out. I know her story.”
• “I'm going to try this." 
• And the biggie right now: "We don't get drunk. We just do the social thing." 

If you’re thinking any of those things, or even similar things, you're stepping into a dabbling moment. You’re on dangerous ground. Ultimately, the enemy has a big trap set for you. So, stop dabbling in temptation—and start resisting it at its first stirrings.