Overcoming Temptations

After Jesus was baptized he went into the wilderness. Did He go there to "be tempted," like a reading of the accounts in the N.T. seems to suggest? No. The prophet Joseph Smith, in the Inspired Version. makes it clear that Jesus went there to commune with God, and afterwards Satan came tempting Him. The three temptations Satan tried to lure Jesus with are a pattern for most all temptations. They fall into three classes, and nearly all temptations come to us in one of those forms:
1. A temptation of the appetites
2. A yielding to the pride and fashion and vanity of those alienated from the things of God
3. A gratifying of the passion, or a desire for the riches of the world, or power among men.

One main purpose for us being here is to be tried and tempted by the adversary. This life is meant to be a test and opportunity for us to strengthen ourselves against evil. If we want to return home to be with our Father and Savior, then we must follow the example Jesus set when he was tempted.

Pres. Kimball wrote: "The importance of not accomodating temptation in the least degree is underlined by the Savior's example. Did not he recognize the danger when he was on the mountain with his fallen brother, Lucifer, being sorely tempted by that master tempter? He could have opened the door and flirted with danger by saying, 'All right, Satan, I'll listen to your proposition. I need not succumb, I need not yield, I need not accept - but I'll listen.'

"Christ did not so rationalize. He positively and promptly closed the discussion, and commanded: 'Get thee hence, Satan,' meaning likely, 'Get out of my sight - get out of my presence - I will not listen - I will have nothing to do with you.' Then we read, 'the devil leaveth him.'" (Kimball, Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 216.)

Satan knows our personal vulnerabilities - exactly which buttons to push. I certainly struggle with my own. One of the tools I've found most effective is to shut off a wrong or inappropriate thought right at the beginning by thinking the word, "STOP" in a commanding way. It may take several tries, but it works. Then I immediately force myself to think of something else. We have to be aware of what we are thinking about, though, for it to work. Satan is able to put thoughts into our minds, and the best way to refuse temptation is to discard them quickly before they have a chance to take hold.

Someone I know is a prime example of what happens when we dwell on such thoughts. I know of several instances where she has taken offense at something that was said or done. It may not have even related to her personally, but she has dwelt on it until it became all about "her." Before long she has said or done something "far-fetched" that was hurtful and damaging. She never seems to understand that even though there really wasn't much of a problem at first, SHE has created a big one by letting her thoughts be manipulated by Satan. I suppose we are all guilty of it, at times, to some degree.

It isn't always easy to know where our thoughts are coming from. We usually feel justified and rationalize that we are "right" when things go wrong (and maybe we are), but thoughts that take us away from principles of light, pure love, and goodness, etc., are most likely coming from the adversary. If we are sincere, we can pray to know the difference, and the Lord will help fortify us against whatever our temptations may be.