I recently read an old saying about how temptations are like stray cats: if you treat one nice, it will be back shortly with a whole bunch of its friends.  There is a lot of truth in that statement.  Sin can sneak up on us as something seemingly so innocent at first, but before we realize what is happening, we rationalize additional sin in our lives by saying “it’s okay this one time,” or “I can stop any time I want.”  After a while, our hearts can be so hardened that we ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit residing in us which tells us to flee from the sin we are about to commit.

While the more we yield to sin opens us up to more enticements, the opposite is also true.  By firmly and consistently resisting temptation, our resolve becomes stronger.  The apostle Paul writes, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Romans 6:12 ESV).  Paul very clearly is telling us that we become slaves to sin when we give into it.

Resist the tool of Satan and he will leave you as it is written: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 ESV).