To Overcome Temptation, Change Your Focus

[To Overcome Temptation, Change Your Focus]( Current Teaching Series [Connecting with God: The Lord's Prayer]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [To Overcome Temptation, Change Your Focus]( By Rick Warren — 10/31/2021 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NCV) Here’s the secret to temptation: Don’t fight it. Just refocus. Whatever you resist persists. Did you know that, in the Bible, not once are you told to resist temptation? You are told to resist the Devil, but that’s a whole different issue. The key to overcoming temptation is not to push back. It’s to change your focus. Whatever gets your attention gets you. The battle for sin always starts in the mind. That’s why the Bible says in Psalm 119:6, “Thinking about your commands will keep me from doing some foolish thing” (CEV). Why? Because if you’re thinking about God’s truth, you’re not thinking about less important things. It’s true in every single area of life—good or bad. If you focus on godly things, they’ll pull you in a godly direction. If you focus on the stuff you see on television and on social media, they’ll pull you in another direction. Whatever you focus on gets your attention. Whatever gets your attention is going to get you. The key is to change your mind. Temptation always follows a predictable pattern: attention, arousal, and action. Your mind gets hooked, your feelings kick in, and then you act on it. So don’t fight a temptation; just turn your mind to something else. The Bible says it like this: “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NCV). The thing is, most people aren’t very good at capturing every thought and turning it to Christ—because it takes lots of practice. You can’t always control your circumstances, and you often can’t control the way you feel. But you can control what you think about. That’s always your choice. And if you change the way you think, it changes the way you feel, and that will change the way you act. Stop fighting temptation today. Instead, change your mind—and that will change your life! [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - What do you spend your time thinking about? Where does your mind wander when you’re not focused on something specific? - In what situations do you know your mind will focus on things that will cause you to sin? - How can you train yourself so that it is more natural for you to focus on God’s Word and truths instead of the things that lead to temptation? The post [To Overcome Temptation, Change Your Focus]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( [Get the Advent Devotional Booklet with Calendar when you give a gift to support Daily Hope]( With Christmas right around the corner, we want to help you spend the holidays worshipping instead of worrying. Slowing down and reconnecting with God. And expressing gratitude for the true meaning of the season. That’s why Pastor Rick and his wife Kay created the Daily Hope Advent devotional booklet with a companion calendar. This 2-part resource is the perfect way to prepare your heart for the real celebration. Praise God for the gift of Jesus and build joyful anticipation as Christmas draws near with the 24-day devotional booklet, featuring a special family activity each Sunday. And enjoy the beautiful, custom artwork of the Advent calendar, with a special door for every day of December that opens to reveal a hidden image and encouraging Bible verse. [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 8 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series Connecting with God: The Lord's Prayer. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: You've Got to Get Connected Message 2: Prayer of Connection Message 3: Prayer of Surrender Message 4: Prayer of Dependence Message 5: Prayer of Cleansing Message 6: Prayer of Release Message 7: Prayer of Deliverance Message 8: Prayer of Fulfillment [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. Rick also founded [The PEACE Plan]( to address five global issues—spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy—through the power of ordinary people in the local church. You can listen to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, his daily 25-minute audio teaching, and sign up for his free daily devotionals at [PastorRick.com](. © 2021 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe by clicking the link below. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, 23182 Arroyo Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, United States