Prejudice is the product of a lazy mind. It’s contempt, prior to investigation. Your first impression of someone is incomplete, and often inaccurate. Don’t assume your intuition is always right. Don’t make lasting decisions based on limited insights. Your success in life will be adversely affected by prejudice, fear, and any form of discrimination you allow to color your thinking. Jesus never determined a person’s worth based on their race, gender, financial status, or appearance. He was comfortable in the presence of fishermen and tax collectors. He was at ease with the rich and the poor. He knew that every person He met had potential and He never looked down on them because of their past. Born to a mother who conceived Him as a virgin, He knew what it meant to have a questionable background and be subject to the rumor mill. But He rose above it. And He broke tradition. The Samaritans were considered such a lower class of people that Jews wouldn’t talk to them. But Jesus did. In fact, He went out of His way to meet with a five-times-divorced Samaritan woman, discussing the mysteries of worship with her and changing her life. When Peter, who struggled with prejudice, was called to introduce the gospel to the first group of Gentiles, he had to acknowledge, “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.” That day God dealt with some of Peter’s deep-seated biases. And He will deal with yours too! If “God so loved the world” but you don’t, how can you claim to be “godly”? 

Ever watch a food commercial on television and suddenly feel hungry? That’s the power of suggestion. Whatever can grab your attention can capture you. Simply repeating, “I must stop drinking, or smoking, or overeating, or lusting,” doesn’t work because it just keeps you thinking about what you don’t want. Instead of trying to remove those thoughts, replace them. Once your focus is on something good, evil begins to lose its grip. Only by reprogramming your mind can you keep it centered on the right things. The Bible says: “Don’t let evil get the upper hand but conquer evil by doing good” (Ro 12:21 TLB). Satan can’t get and keep your attention when your mind is given to something else. That’s why Paul writes: “Fill your minds with…good” (Php 4:8 GNT). Fighting a thought is futile; it only strengthens the connection between you and it. By dwelling on it you actually reinforce it. Hit the remote; change the channel! Furthermore, you don’t overcome temptation by fighting the feeling of it. The more you fight a feeling, the more it engages and draws you. Turn your attention to something better! Your mind is where the battle is won or lost. Start managing your mind and monitoring your media intake. The Bible says, “Your life is shaped by your thoughts.” The Psalmist prayed, “Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless” (Ps 119:37 GNT). Is this easy to do? No, it takes discipline and practice. But with time, and God’s grace, you can change the way you think and overcome temptation. 

No matter how spiritually mature you become you will never outgrow temptation. When you conquer it on one front it attacks you on another. And the closer you get to God the more Satan will try to tempt you. Paul explains it this way: “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants…These two forces are constantly fighting each other” (Gal 5:17 NLT). So what’s the answer? Here are two ways you can overcome temptation: (1) Be honest about it. Ask yourself, “When am I tempted most?” Usually we are most vulnerable when we are under stress: when we are hurt, angry, worried, alone, bored, tired, or after a big success or spiritual high. Learn to identify your patterns: “God’s people…protect themselves by watching where they go” (Pr 16:17 CEV). (2) Reach for God’s help. “Call on me in times of trouble. I will rescue you” (Ps 50:15 GWT). So why don’t we call on God more often? Because sometimes we just want to do what we want to do, right? Or we are embarrassed because we keep giving in to the same temptations. Don’t be discouraged; God won’t give up on you. His Word says, “Let us…come before God’s throne where…we [will] receive…grace to help us when we need it” (Heb 4:16 NCV). If you have to cry out for God’s help every hour of the day, He will be there for you! Just as the roots of a tree deepen when storms come, each time you stand up to a temptation you become stronger. 

Soap cleanses the outside, fire cleanses the inside. And the Spirit of God does both! When you sin, repent! In-depth repentance brings in-depth cleansing. Don’t feel bad about feeling bad, feel good about it. Be glad your conscience is still sensitive and responsive to God. What you never want to hear God say is what He said about Ephraim: “Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone” (Hos 4:17 NKJV). The fact that God is convicting you of sin is proof of His love for you. God can forgive your sin but He cannot overlook it. Unconfessed sin disrupts your fellowship with Him. Forgiveness is about more than just escaping the penalty of sin, it’s about restoring your fellowship with God. You say, “Won’t God get tired of me sinning and repenting?” If Jesus told Peter to forgive his brother “seventy times seven” would He do less for you? The Bible says: “’Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’” (Isa 1:18 NKJV). When you sin and try to hide from God you only prolong your misery. So the moment you become aware of your sin, confess it, then leave His presence confident that He has forgiven you. You’re not a loser, you’re a learner. Alexander Pope said: “A man should never be ashamed to own he has been wrong, which is but saying in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.” 

Together they built and pastored a great church. The husband was a gifted preacher and musician who wrote songs and led worship. His wife was a Bible teacher who knew God and taught His Word skillfully. But when he died, she experienced months of depression before eventually bouncing back. When someone says, “If you really love God and walk according to His Word you will never get depressed,” clearly, they have never read the Scriptures and never been depressed. Elijah called down fire from heaven in a spectacular victory, yet he became so depressed in the aftermath that he wanted to die. “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life” (1Ki 19:4 NKJV). That’s major-league depression! When you try to act super-spiritual and allow people to think you never battle in areas like fear, failure, finances, family, or feelings, you give them a complex and cause them to walk away feeling they’re not spiritual or mature enough to be used by God. Jesus uncovered Himself and washed His disciples’ feet. Then He told them to do the same for one another. You are never more effective than when you are transparent. Knowing that leadership decisions had to be made concerning the future of their church, this pastor’s wife felt overwhelmed and prayed, “Lord, I don’t know how to make all these decisions.” God told her, “I have already made every decision concerning you and the church. My will was established in the counsels of eternity. All you have to do is decide today what I have already decided yesterday, and tomorrow you will walk in My blessings and benefits.”