At a point in the life of anyone, they will be tempted to do what is not right, at least everyone has experienced it. There is nothing wrong with temptations coming your way, at least it proves your existence. What is bad is when you have allowed yourself to be overwhelmed by the temptation. At that point, many people will start to give excuses why they fell into the temptation but there are always ways to avoid it.
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First of all, I want to tell you that you will hardly get tempted by what you are not interested in. This is why temptation, most times, feasts on our desires. For example, if I am not drawn to a particular food, I cannot fall if being tempted by that food, but if I am tempted by something I have been wanting to have, then the temptation already has a foothold. Also, temptations, more often than not, starts from the heart as little thoughts and then grows into actions. This is why we need to guard our thoughts to ward off negative thoughts.
Once you start entertaining unwholesome thoughts, it will not be long and the thoughts will mature into unwholesome acts and by then, you have fallen into temptation. A friend of mine once made this statement in a gathering I was privilege to attend, he said:
Until you kill evil thoughts, you cannot stop evil acts.
The truth is, temptations do not appear as "two-headed monster". They always appear subtly and may be appealing when seen peripherally so as to attract you. Remember that "not everything that shines like diamond is actually diamond", some may just be pebbles disguising as diamonds just to entice your heart. So guard your heart.
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When trying to guard your heart against evil thoughts that will lead to falling into temptation, you also need to beware of the kind of people you hang around with and the company you keep. Your thoughts (and ultimately your actions) can be heavily influenced by your friends and if your will is not strong enough, you may give in to their peer pressures. No wonder it has been said popularly that:
Show me your friend and I can tell you the kind of person you are
To avoid temptations, the first thing to do is to avoid what may lead you to the temptation and avoid all appearances of the temptation. If going out with certain friends always ends up with you doing something that you always regret, then it will be wise to avoid such friendship, because doing that wrong thing for long may sear your conscience. Always have it in mind that the responsibility to avoid temptation is entirely yours and it is a product of the choices you make, so make the right choice.
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