Temptation: Diligence and Victory – Keep in Step with the Spirit
Here, former procrastinators, is the end of our summer focus on tools that help us resist the temptation to delay.
Just knowing something won’t get the job done. But it can be a basic step toward follow through. It has helped me enormously to know that emotions want instant gratification That helps me recognize what’s going on when I’m tempted to put off a task. I just want to feel better now. My feelings want the bait. Good news! I’m not obligated to my feelings. How I feel does not dictate my behavior.
Keeping in step with the Spirit, we obey scripture and do not let ourselves give in to the pressure to do what pleases us in the moment but is unwise. We exercise the self-control God is producing in us as fruit of His Spirit. Self-control grows; we abide more closely in Him. Diligence results in repeated victory.
Our greatest helps are the Holy Spirit within, the Word of God, and His armor. Don’t think about the tempting bait, but focus on what we should do. View temptation from an eternal perspective. Physically flee a tempting situation; protect ourselves from such situations to begin with. Self-control builds in enjoyable breaks. Routine provides a pattern to follow that makes us resistant to temptation. We resist temptation because we are Christ’s disciples and our desire is His reward.
These are some of the scriptures that help me regarding procrastination specifically: (All ESL)
“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning… You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Luke 12:35,40
“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-17
“He who observes the wind will not sow; and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” Ecclesiastes 11:4
“A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” Proverbs 10:4
“Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” Proverbs 18:9
“The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.” Proverbs 20:4
“The sluggard is a man lacking sense. His ground is overgrown, his walls broken down. Poverty comes upon him like an armed robber.” Proverbs 24:30-34
“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.” Proverbs 13:4
