Great Escape: Defusing Temptation, Avoiding Infidelity

Temptation is something that all humans face regularly. Temptation itself isn’t sin, but its presence reminds us of why we need a Savior. Jesus came to remit what separated us from the Father. He also came to heal us from the wounds that afflict our souls as a result of sin’s entry into the world.

He is familiar with the weakness of the flesh. Jesus endured the same temptations that we experience, but without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Our Savior equips us with power through the indwelling Person of the Holy Spirit, to reprove and overcome the works of darkness in our own lives and the world in which we live (Ephesians 5:11).

That doesn’t mean that the enemy won’t attempt to trip and cause us to stumble. When we don’t spend time nourishing ourselves with Biblical truth, he tricks us, deceiving us into believing and acting on the lies that derail focus. Satan may desire to trap us with the encumbrances of this world, but the Lord will empower us to believe His own words that the prince of this world has come but found nothing in us (John 14:30).

We don’t want the enemy to find any place of agreement within, as this is the place where we experience the enticement that draws us away into the sin that sabotages (James 1:14). It may seem impossible, but that’s exactly why we need and have a Savior who came to rescue what we cannot escape by human willpower.

This or that

While temptation presents options, the strength to overcome emerges from where we feed. We can choose to glorify God, submitting our weakness to His Strength. Are we nourishing our souls with time spent in the Word, allowing it to read and reset our hearts? Are we grazing in areas that feed the flesh and increase our appetite for the world’s carnal elements?

Our lives will produce fruit that reflects our hearts, whether we succumb to the pressure of our flesh or surrender to the Spirit and embrace the path of life (Psalm 16:11).

Jesus helps us do what we otherwise could not. Our Savior’s abiding Presence reminds us that our ability to avoid temptation doesn’t rest in our own strength. When we recognize and acknowledge that truth, it empowers us to navigate temptations, including the ones that seem to persistently knock at our doors (Genesis 4:7).

In the current age, we detect the fingerprints of a real enemy as our society bears the evidence and effects of sin. It is as Scripture says, “gross darkness” blankets people; but at the same time, the light of Christ pierces, shining brilliantly through His redeemed (Isaiah 60:2).

Mastering our minds

Like any other sin, adultery begins in the mind. We amass a collection of ungoverned thoughts that may not immediately present as alarming, but they stir feelings in us. These feelings may not be rightly aligned with God’s preferences for us as His beloved.

Thoughts and emotions give rise to actions and interactions. These can lead us into exchanges that may be alluring initially, but destructive at the end. The Holy Spirit is present to help us follow Jesus, as the Way, and our escape from temptation (John 14:6; 1 Corinthians 10:13). With Him, we can avert infidelity’s destruction. We can embrace the same grace that redeems us when we fall, keeping and sustaining us in our journey.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. – Jude 24-25, ESV

Scripture urges us to pay attention to what we think, pass it through the filter of God’s Word, and police our thoughts with the peace of God. If they don’t agree with the Word and our regenerated spirit, then we have to evict thoughts that would otherwise take us on a destructive path.

Sometimes we don’t do this, especially when we want to continue savoring something that provides an escape from what we often won’t address in our lives or our marriages. Unfortunately, it isn’t until we’re entangled in temptation that our inaction has permitted an overgrowth of thoughts that the enemy planted as seeds in our minds.

When we don’t arrest those imaginations and make them obey Christ, by default, we give them license to occupy our minds until they manifest in desire and action (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). It is in our minds that we first live out the reality of every behavior. When we consider this, infidelity is more than just a sexual encounter with someone other than our spouse; or, if we are unmarried, compromising our commitment to our partner.

Infidelity exhibits unfaithfulness which has been taking root in our heads and hearts long before we initiated or responded to an adulterous advance. One slight move at a time, when we shift our view from God and our spouse onto other things and other people, we leave enough of a breach for Satan to wedge a foothold (Ephesians 4:27). Here, he first establishes a command over our attention and emotion.

Great escape

Infidelity often begins through innocent interactions and evolves into something poisonous. We have the opportunity and authority to cut it off and uproot iniquity before its vines entangle and restrict, multiplying faster than what we think we can control.

The Holy Spirit will provide an opening for us to leave compromising situations, often by convicting us or convincing us of His nearness and power (John 16:8-11). He will also elevate our awareness of the enemy’s intent through what initially appears as benign encounters. It is up to us to decide how we will respond to His revelation, realizing that He won’t force us to follow Him in the paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3).

While it can seem impossible to halt the trajectory of infidelity once we’ve started on the descent, we can stop to repent where we are, retract, and regain ground with the Lord.

It will require intention on our part and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to help us melt away what would otherwise keep us bound (Isaiah 58:6). Safeguarding our hearts by inviting the Lord’s discernment will serve to guide and influence our interactions with others.

We can choose to respond by renouncing the iniquity that sought to grip us and cling instead to the Scriptural Truth we’ve heard, so we don’t slip away from what anchors us. Prayer and ongoing practical support of spiritual accountability and friends who love us enough to speak the truth help. We can ally and come into agreement, breaking strongholds and emerging from sin’s attempt to take dominion (Proverbs 27:6; Ephesians 4:15; Romans 6:14).

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. – Hebrews 12:1, NIV

Next steps

Consider your own life and search your heart where you may have the ingredients for an illicit encounter. Although it may seem too late to turn back, you can decide at this moment to run and return to the Lord, embracing His strength for what you cannot do alone.

You are already on this site, but take the next intentional step by searching the resources. Select a counselor, then schedule an appointment to meet. Temptation can represent a ticking time bomb, but you can defuse its explosive nature and encounter God’s best for you and your spouse.