I was listening to an audio sermon from Andrew Womack yesterday and I’ve decided to create a blog series based on his sermon titled “How to Deal With Temptation”.

In the first segment (relative to his teaching), I will be discussing how we can overcome temptation by “preparing our heart”. It is the first thing we must do, if we are going to have victory over the devil. Mr. Womack says, “you can get your heart so fixed on God that you wont do evil.” I agree with him, and I believe it is possible to never sin if our hearts are prepared and we are seeking God at all times. After all, sin occurs when we are not in the Presence of God. It happens when we start chasing after our own desires, and ignoring the convictions that the Holy Spirit has placed upon us.

Think back to a moment when you have been in the Presence of God. You are alone with Him, and you are praising and worshipping Him. Can you really imagine doing something evil in that moment?

We don’t have to sin, we choose to sin.

You might say to me, “only Jesus is perfect, and we are all going to sin.” I would answer as Mr. Womack has answered, “don’t judge me according to your standards.” If you’re convinced that inevitably you are going to slip and fall everyday, then you probably will. You’re heart is not prepared.

So how and when do we prepare our heart? First off, it needs to be done before temptation comes along. Mr. Womack says, “it’s impossible to make a U-turn when you are going 1000 miles per hour.” If you are running that fast after God, when temptation comes, it’s not going to trip you up. Conversely, if you are moving slowly in your walk when temptation comes, it won’t be that hard to turn away from God and go in the other direction.

We can prepare our hearts by spending more time with the Lord. By seeking Him every day and including Him in all that we do. You can also prepare yourself for any temptations by forming a battle plan. This has to be done before the battle! Jesus prepared 30 years before He went into the desert to be tempted.

One problem that has caused Christians to stumble, is that they are dancing a little too close to the line of righteousness and sin. We watch television shows with sexual images in them, and expect those images to be forgotten. We condone lying when it is “absolutely necessary”, and forget that it is an abomination to the Lord. Christians are always seeing how far they can go, and how much they can enjoy the world as those who are of the world do, and then they are shocked when they fall into sin.

Maybe if we start concerning ourselves with how to be righteous, we can actually start being righteous. What a concept?