Billy Graham shares concrete steps for Christians to overcome temptation

Evangelical leader Billy Graham has shared concrete steps Christians can follow to overcome temptations through God's help.

In his column post for The Kansas City Star on Monday, June 6, Graham responded to a question from a struggling Christian who claimed it's a challenge to get around with old friends as they only ended up doing the wrong things and that asking for God's help hasn't led to anything good.

The founder of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association gave out specific steps struggling Christians can wisely follow in order to resist temptations by asking for God's help.

The first thing Christians should do to overcome temptations, according to Graham, is to avoid situations where they know temptations abound. He advised planning ahead for such situations and acting out on it by staying away.

In this case, Graham warned that staying away may mean "leaving your old friends behind and asking God to give you new friends who will encourage you to do what's right." The evangelical leader reminded Christians that real friends are those who don't turn them away from God.

He quoted Bible verse 1 Corinthians 15:33 that reads, "Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character.'"

Graham's first instruction is similar to the one he gave through an earlier post as an instruction to a husband who enjoyed lustful temptations like sexy magazines, of course, without his wife knowing about it.

He reminded the husband of the advice Paul gave to Timothy.

In Bible verse 1 Timothy 6:11, Paul said, "Flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

Graham proceeded to instruct Christians to strengthen their relationship with Christ by means of attending a Christian church and beginning one's day with a prayer. He also added the importance of reading the Bible every day.

He quoted Psalm 119:9 which reads, "How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word."

"Remember: God loves you, and he doesn't want you to ruin your life or bring disgrace to the name of Christ by your behavior," reminded the world-renowned preacher.