5 Ways To Rid Your Thoughts of Sinful Desires

James 1:13-15 explains temptation:
“each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

Temptation begins when we “conceive” sinful desires: entertain, enjoy, and contemplate those desires in our thoughts. 

Next we act on the desires we’ve “nourished.” 

Finally, we indulge those desires until we sear our conscience and no longer know right from wrong (1 Timothy 4:2; Ephesians 4:19).

It’s important to immediately identify sinful thoughts and refuse to entertain them. Then we need to replace them with wholesome thoughts in one or all of these ways (Philippians 4:8):

1. Seek God’s help (Matthew 6:13).

2. Recite memorized Bible verses (Psalm 119:11).

3. Read the Bible (Hebrews 4:12).

4. Count our blessings (Philippians 4:6).

5. Besides reading and reciting God's Word when tempted, we should read, study, and memorize it daily to transform our minds (Romans 12:2).

Our thoughts can corrupt us or transform us. Let’s choose to be transformed!
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These devotions also provide help for overcoming bad thought patterns:
Taking Thoughts Captive
Dirty Thoughts
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