Part 1 of 5: Standing Firm in the Battle - 6 Voices. 5 Topics. One goal—endure in faith, joy, and truth

Resisting Temptation in Real-Time

Resisting Temptation in Real-Time

Welcome to Part 1 of our 5-part series, "Standing Firm in the Battle." In this series, six believers share wisdom and encouragement on spiritual endurance. From temptation to spiritual attack, from waiting seasons to cultivating joy, each post offers real-life insight anchored in God’s Word.

In this opening post, we begin by introducing our six contributors and diving into our first theme: how we resist temptation in real-time.

Meet the Contributors

• Dan Blincoe writes about Christianity, apologetics, and faith. His passion is helping others grow in their spiritual journey and deepen their understanding of biblical truth. He believes apologetics must address both the heart and the mind, engaging with skeptics, seekers, and believers alike in a way that reflects Christ’s character - approaching it from a place of love and compassion. When he's not writing, Dan is a designer, 3D artist (DanBlincoeCreative.com), and beekeeper. He and his wife raise their 4 kids in southwest Missouri. Dan writes for the Bread and Life, the Lion’s Pride, and BeeAttitudes.buzz.

• Steven Galatioto helps believers cultivate Christ-centered habits through intentional daily practices. He is passionate about discipling others, particularly men in substance abuse recovery through Celebrate Recovery. In addition to ministry, he enjoys fitness, singing/songwriting, and coming up with clever dad jokes to impress (or annoy) his teenage son and daughter. Steven writes for Faithful Habits.

• Cole Nielsen, a 26-year-old man who is happily married to a woman who still takes his breath away. Together, they have three children—a beautiful baby boy who holds his heart and two precious ones they lost during pregnancy, whom He longs to meet in heaven. Through his writing, He seeks to glorify God by revealing His overwhelming love to all and showing that true religion isn’t about how you dress, what you eat, or even the righteous deeds you perform, but about a transformed heart overflowing with delight in our Triune God. Cole writes at Cole Nielsen on Substack.

• Janet Abadir MD practiced general surgery for 24 years before becoming a writer, Bible teacher, speaker, coach, and podcaster. She lives in Kodiak, Alaska, with her husband and three teenage sons. She has been called to speak the message of freedom to God’s people. Her extensive knowledge of Scripture, paired with her professional skills and compassionate love for others, equip her as a powerful instrument for God’s kingdom in her community. Janet is the author of the book “Drink from the River of Delight” and "Drink from the River of Delight Study Guide". You can read more by her on Substack at Janet’s Substack.

• Eric Mattie is passionate about encouraging Christians to remain faithful to Christ as they grow older in their faith. He desires that ordinary Christians shine their light for Jesus in their daily lives—where they live, work, and play. As an exhorter and minister of the Word of God, he currently serves as a lay elder, preaching and teaching in his local church and surrounding churches in need of someone to fill the pulpit. When he's not ministering, you can find Eric dancing to a variety of music genres and cheering for the Green Bay Packers. He and his wife, Melanie, have three adult children. Eric writes at For1Glory.

• Boma believes that life is a gift and we have a duty to be responsible with this gift. She writes at The April Journal on Substack, where she hopes to encourage her readers to continue to carry out this duty.

How Do You Resist Temptation in Real-Time?

Dan Blincoe:

Temptation loses its grip when you actually believe the truth about who you are. You were never made for sin. You were never created to live in reaction to the devil. You were made in the image of God to live from the presence of God. So when temptation shows up, it’s not some big dramatic battle—it’s simply an opportunity to manifest truth instead of compromise.

The key is relationship. If you’re just trying not to sin, you’ll always be vulnerable. But when you're in love with Jesus, when you’ve spent time with Him and let Him father you, sin doesn’t look so appealing anymore. You’re not trying to resist temptation with gritted teeth; you’re living in such a revelation of righteousness that temptation feels foreign. You're not trying to get free—you are free. That’s why Jesus came, not just to forgive you, but to transform you from the inside out.

When the enemy whispers, "Did God really say…?" like he did in the garden Genesis 3:1, he’s not just questioning God's command—he’s challenging your identity. He wants you to live from a place of need, of lack, as if you're not already filled in Christ. But you're not some desperate sinner hoping to make it to heaven—you’re a son, a daughter, full of the Spirit, walking with God. That changes everything. When you know who you are, temptation doesn’t feel like a struggle—it’s just a lie being exposed.

And listen—don’t go hiding when you feel tempted. Don’t go into shame. Bring it into the light. The Father isn’t shocked. He’s not mad. He’s not standing there with His arms crossed. He’s saying, "Hey, why are you believing a lie? Come here. Let Me remind you who you are." 1 Corinthians 10:13 says there’s always a way of escape, and that escape is relationship. It’s Him.

So in real time, when that temptation comes—whether it’s lust, pride, fear, whatever—stop. Breathe. Remember who you are and who’s inside you. Talk to God right there. Thank Him for truth. Declare your freedom. This isn’t about trying harder; it’s about believing better. The moment you’re aware of your righteousness, you’re already overcoming.

You're not someone trying not to sin. You're someone becoming love. And love doesn't sin. So let’s grow up into Him in all things.

Steven Galatioto:

Psalm 119:11 is the foundation—hiding God's Word in your heart transforms your mind, making it harder for the enemy to deceive you. Ephesians 6:10-18 reminds us to put on the full armor of God, actively preparing ourselves for spiritual battles.

Temptation isn’t just something to avoid—it’s something to outgrow. Instead of obsessing over resisting temptation, shift your focus to strengthening daily spiritual habits. Just like in health and fitness, you don’t sit around thinking of ways to avoid junk food all day—you build habits like meal prep, regular exercise, and hydration. In the same way, spiritual fitness comes through consistent, faithful habits that redirect your focus toward Christ.

Creative Temptation Blockers

Instead of just running from sin, run toward daily, intentional habits that strengthen your faith:

• Lust Blocker: Sleep with your Bible in bed—keep God’s Word close, making it the last thing you see at night and the first thing in the morning. Meditating on scripture before bed keeps your mind set on purity.

• Rage Blocker: Listen to worship music or memorize scripture while driving—redirect emotions to praise rather than frustration. Proverbs 15:1 reminds us that a soft answer turns away wrath, and filling your mind with worship prepares you to respond in grace.

• Distraction Blocker: Set screen time limits or use apps that restrict social media. Unchecked scrolling opens doors to temptation—whether comparison, envy, or impurity. Guard your eyes and time.

• Idle Time Blocker: Schedule intentional prayer and journaling so your mind is preoccupied with God rather than wandering toward sin. An idle mind is the enemy’s playground—so keep yours filled with His presence.

• Greed & Materialism Blocker: Practice gratitude daily (1 Timothy 6:6). Before online shopping or impulse spending, write down three things you're thankful for. Contentment is a shield against temptation.

• Pride Blocker: Seek correction and accountability (Proverbs 27:17). Pride makes us think we don't need guidance, but wise counsel keeps us grounded. Ask a mentor to check in with you regularly.

• Temptation Exit Strategy: Have an accountability partner (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)—someone who prays for you and encourages you toward righteousness.

Fleeing Sin, Running Toward Christ

Scripture calls us to flee from sin (1 Corinthians 6:18, 2 Timothy 2:22), but fleeing alone isn't enough. You must run toward something greater—Christ-centered habits that keep you anchored. Fill your time, mind, and heart with prayer, worship, scripture, and acts of service, leaving no room for sin to take root.

Overcoming temptation isn't about willpower—it's about walking in the Spirit daily (Galatians 5:16). As you commit to faithful habits, you'll find that the pull to sin weakens, and the joy of obedience strengthens.

Cole Nielsen:

The words of my father still echo in my mind, “No one is going to give you anything in this world Cole. If you want something you have to earn it, you have to work for it.” And in his words, there is a lot of wisdom, a slew of experience, but most of all, a mound of pain. I carried this mindset with me as a newly converted Christian. I would do everything I could to overcome the temptations that came to me: Accountability apps, messaging friends, doing pushups, even to the point of trying to physically beat the urges out of myself. Yet, no matter how painfully I tried, I was left utterly destitute, sitting in the shadow of shame and embarrassment.

“Am I even Christian?”

I had failed to see that even though "these things indeed have an appearance of wisdom... self-willed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh" (Colossians 2:23). I couldn't come to grips with the fact that I can only walk on water if I'm looking at my precious Savior rather than the thrashing waves and howling wind around me, and that just like Peter, I needed to call out, "Lord, save me!" (Matthew 14:30) if I wanted to avoid drowning.

I had yet to learn that rather than looking at temptation and seeing, “that the tree (is) good for food, that it (is) pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6), I must look to Christ and see that He “is more precious than rubies, and all the things I might desire cannot compare with (Him). Length of days is in (His) right hand, in the left riches and honor. (His) ways are ways of pleasantness, and all (His) paths are peace.” I needed to look away from the tree of temptation and towards Him who “is a tree of life to those who take hold of (Him), and happy are all who retain (Him)” (Proverbs 3:16-18).

Now when temptation’s enticing whisper calls to me saying, “I have spread my bed with tapestry, colored coverings of Egyptian linen, I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love” (Proverbs 7:16-18), I can look to my beloved Jesus, whose “love is better than wine” (Song of Songs 1:2). Upon gazing at Him, I can see that temptation’s lips which “drip honey, and mouth (which) is smoother than oil, (are) in the end bitter as wormwood” (Proverbs 5:3-4) when compared to the surpassing sweetness of the bread of life!

Fixing my gaze on Him, I no longer need to struggle against temptation—I can delight in the One who is infinitely better.

Janet Abadir:

I remember the first time I tried chocolate mousse. I thought it was ice cream, and was sorely disappointed that it was not cold enough, creamy enough, or dense enough to satisfy my chocolate craving.

Temptation is similar—Satan or the world or our own flesh tells us that something will really hit the spot, something that God tells us is not good for us. We are inevitably disappointed with the outcome, or worse, permanently scarred and traumatized because we gave in to the horrible lie.

The first step in fighting temptation is to "be always eating ice cream," because chocolate mousse is not better than ice cream. I mean that Jesus offers us the real thing every day, and temptation is only showing us the counterfeit which can never satisfy us. Looking for meaning in life? Look to Jesus who calls you to live for His glory (John 5:44). Looking for deep relationships? See the Son of God calling you His friend (John 15:14-15). Looking for beauty? See Jesus' beauty in loving weak, rebellious sinners, and willingly giving up His life to make them beautiful like Him (Psalm 34:5).

The second step is even more effective than the first when the first step isn't working. The second step is what I call the "fear factor." What is the most terrifying thing you have ever encountered? Let me tell you what is the most terrifying thing in the universe: the wrath of God. Take a good, long look at the wrath of God. It is unavoidable. It is utterly destructive on a world-wide scale. It will find every ungodly human being, and every ungodly thing they have ever done will be exposed and judged (Revelation 6:15-17). God is infinitely valuable, and so every sin against Him merits eternal, conscious punishment (Matthew 18:8).

When we see the wrath of God clearly, the cross of Jesus Christ becomes our obsession. That is the only safe refuge from the wrath to come. Jesus sweat drops of blood as He saw the looming wave of God's wrath, and He pleaded with the Father to take the cup away, yet He asked for God the Father's will, not His will (Luke 22:41-44). Surely, our courageous Savior knew what He was talking about when He saw what He was about to suffer. God's wrath is terrifying, and it was our sin that merited this wrath. Remember Romans 5:9: "Since therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God."

Let this thought help you to hate sin when it sneaks up on you. The more you love Jesus, the less you will love sin. As Joseph said when tempted, "How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9 ) Remember the invisible reality when all you can see is the visible world around you. Ask God to show you His life, light, love, and beauty in your darkest moments. Then you will see the glory of God, and taste and see that He is good, as He becomes your safe refuge from temptation (Psalm 34:8).

Eric Mattie:

If you are out of practice in saying “no” to temptation, consider the following two instructions the Lord gives us through Paul.

First instruction:

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5

Rooted in the reality of the Colossian believer’s union with Christ’s death that Paul laid out in Chapter 1 and 2, Paul is calling them to put to death what is earthly in them. To kill sin. But why is Paul calling them to that?

Simple. It is because in this new life we have in Christ, we are not yet perfected in this earthly body.

• We are embattled, and yet empowered.

• We are created as Spirit-filled fighters.

• We are enabled to obey and persevere in God’s commands.

Yet we are still developing with a grace-driven effort to renew our minds to be sensitive to the Spirit leading to right living.

It’s the call to “Be what you are”
Be in your Physical life and existence
What You
Are in your spiritual life and reality

Be in behavior, attitude disposition, feelings and thinking in your repentance
What you
Are in the reality of your union in Christ, who is your life.

Be here and now in our day-to-day living
What you
Are: in the heavenly reality and legal position in Christ that God sees you as today.

So, this command is not rooted in a moral resolve dependent on our strength. That would get them back to the asceticism of “don’t handle, don't taste, don’t touch” he just got done arguing over. (See Colossians 2:20–3:1)

Rather this new life of obedience comes from being in union with Christ. It comes from Christ being your life. It comes from the gracious Spirit endowment of life found in all born-again believers.

• Born-again – with sin’s power canceled in our lives.

• Born-again – with the new ability to say no to sin.

It’s an inside work of God, not an outside work of man. This is the heart of Paul’s instruction in resisting temptation versus the Colossian’s heresy to add to their salvation.

Therefore, consider the second instruction:

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” Romans 13:14

Be resisting temptation through
What you
Are seeing Jesus exemplify

Looking at Matthew 4:1–11, we see Jesus handle his temptation and trial by,
Resisting quick (v. 4, 7, 10) – It was instinctive in him. Therefore, develop your own knee jerk reaction to disrupt the tempting lure of your sin.
Express aloud Scripture (v. 4, 7, 10) – This turned the battleground to truth instead of internal feelings or mental deceptions.
Always trusted the Father’s character (v. 7, 10) – All of Scripture is for our good to provide and protect.
Leaned heavily on the way Father God provided (v. 11) – Trusting in His providential hand in the midst of his weakness. (See 2 Corinthians 12:9–10)

Boma:

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
1 Corinthians 10:12

No one is above temptation, and since it’s something that could affect us in profound ways, we cannot be too careful or do too much in our approach to resisting it.

So what can we do?

Below are five strategies worth exploring—

PRAY (Matthew 6:13)

I’ve always joked that I do not have the grace to function in sales and marketing, and I do not know why God has me hanging around this space. I’ve been told there must be something God wants me to learn and I won’t be going anywhere until I learn it. God help me!

My mother runs a business from home. One day, while attending to a customer, I cannot even tell you what happened or how it happened, but things got out of hand fast. Part of my frustration was that I’d reflected this customer’s attitude rather than Christ’s. I took my frustration to God and while talking to Him about what had happened, I remembered this line from the Lord’s Prayer, “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”. It took on a practical meaning for me that day. Today, when I pray that prayer, I do so earnestly, with all my heart.

FLESH MUST DIE (Romans 8:13)

At the university, “Flesh must die” was a common saying amongst members of the fellowship I attended as they tried to encourage one another to not give in to the desires of the flesh. Many years after graduation, I still catch myself saying it to myself.

What you feed grows.

No one can walk on hot coals and not be burned. (Proverbs 6:28)

We’ve been told not start a fire if we do not have an outlet for the smoke.

Feed your spirit, not your flesh.

HEED GOOD COUNSEL (Proverbs 24:6)

I don’t dance (because I don’t know how) but I like to watch people dance. I expressed desire one time to see a dance movie that would be showing on TV but my cousin who had seen the movie cautioned me about what it could do to my mind. By listening to her, I saved myself the struggle of fighting that battle.

If people have shown themselves trustworthy listen to them and prayerfully take their counsel into consideration while making decisions.

PLEAD THE BLOOD OF JESUS (Revelation 12:11)

One of my Sunday school teachers shared this strategy with us and I can tell you that it works.

As soon as you identify a bad thought or idea, plead the blood of Jesus. It just works.

HIDE GOD’S WORD IN YOUR HEART (Psalm 119:11)

Growing up, while encouraging us to read the Bible, my father used to tell us to give the Holy Spirit something to work with. The Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance all we need to be successful in all we have to do but if we’ve hidden nothing in our heart, what would He bring to our remembrance?

Coming Up in Part 2

In our next post, each contributor will share their experiences and insights on how they stand firm during spiritual attack. From recognizing the schemes of the enemy to putting on the full armor of God, you won't want to miss this powerful follow-up.

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