Resist Temptation by Memorizing Scripture

In the Middle Ages when the Black Plague was killing two-thirds of the people in Europe, there were two signs that a person was infected.  First, your skin would swell with a ring of rose-colored lumps.  Second, you would have sneezing fits.

It was believed that the disease traveled by air, and so people thought that when you encountered an infected person, if  you will sniffed posies (flowers), it would prevent you from breathing in the germs and catching the disease.

To protect their children, the mothers of that time came up with a saying:  "Ring, a ring of roses; pocket full of posies.  Achew!  Achew!  We all fall down."  Mothers were trying to teach their kids to keep their pockets full of posies, and when they encountered someone who might be infected, to sniff the posies and avoid death!  Overtime the saying was turned into a nursery rhyme and the words were changed to the following:  "Ring around the rosie; Pocket full of posies.  Ashes, ashes, we all fall down."

Similarly, in life you will attacked with temptation multiple times a day.  And if you give in, sin will destroy you.  So how do you resist temptation?  A pocket full of posies won't help, but a heart full of Scripture will.  You need to memorize scripture so that you can quickly recall it and meditate on it in the moment of temptation.  That's what Jesus did when He was tempted in the wilderness.  He recalled Scripture.

The key is to find a verse that applies to your particular area of vulnerability.  For example, if your weakness is eating unhealthily, then you might memorize 1 Corinthians 10:31 (CSB).  "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God."  If your temptation is lust, then you might memorize Romans 13:14 (NIV).  "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."  When temptation comes, focus your thoughts (meditate) on your Scripture verse and at the same time pray for the strength to resist the devil, and eventually the temptation will go away.