Overcoming Temptation with the Mind of Christ

When Temptation Comes: The Father’s Affirmation and the Mind of Christ

There has to be a time for prayer.  There has to be a time to sit with the Father.  

How much more important is it for us to walk in what God has called us to do by taking time in the secret place—to go to that deserted place, to pray and to rest? In that place of prayer we are not only asking. We are enjoying God. Enjoying His life. Enjoying His Word.

Last week we finished looking at Jesus being baptized by John. Put yourself in John’s shoes for a moment. Jesus asks you to baptize Him. John tries to prevent Him, and Jesus answers with the first red letters we see in Matthew:

“Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15)

Jesus comes up out of the water. The heavens open. The Spirit of God descends like a dove and rests on Him. A voice from heaven says, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Meditation Exercise

Close your eyes for a second. See yourself coming up out of the water. See that same dove resting on you. Hear the Father say over your life, “You are My beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”

Those words were still echoing in Jesus’ heart when the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted.

The Wilderness

Matthew 4:1–11 tells the whole story. After forty days and forty nights of fasting, Jesus was hungry. The tempter came at the most vulnerable moment and said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

I’ll say something blunt: if we can live without the Word of God, we will. But the truth is we can’t really live without it. We can exist in the natural, but we will not experience life in the Spirit unless we are feeding on His Word. I have experienced it in fasting—going to that very verse and feeling virtue, life, and sustenance enter my body. The Word of God really does nourish us. The body is dead without the spirit; when we feed our spirit, we feed our body too.

The second temptation took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. The devil quoted Psalm 91 and said, “Throw Yourself down… He shall give His angels charge over you.” Jesus replied, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

The third temptation was the shortcut. The devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Notice something important: Jesus never corrected the devil by saying those kingdoms did not belong to him. Scripture calls him the god of this world. The offer was real. It was a way to receive the kingdoms without the cross, without the suffering, without the pain. A shortcut.

Jesus said, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

That same spirit showed up later when Peter rebuked Jesus for talking about the cross. Jesus turned and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Carnal thinking wants to avoid the suffering. The mind of Christ does not.

He Is Able to Aid Us

Hebrews 2:16–18 tells us that Jesus was made like His brethren so that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest. Because He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

Hebrews 4:15 adds that we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

He knows. And He helps.

The Mind We Must Carry

Temptation will come the moment we step into what God has called us to do. Jesus told the disciples in Gethsemane, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

In our flesh there is no temptation we can overcome. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We must be spiritually minded.

Philippians 2 shows us the mind of Christ:

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself… Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who… made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant…

He never thought for Himself first. When the disciples urged Him to eat, He said, “I have food to eat of which you do not know… My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me.”

1 Peter 4:1 tells us to arm ourselves with the same mind. “He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” And a few verses later: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings.”

Romans 8:5–6 is clear: those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

If we remain carnally minded when the trial comes, there is no reward in it. But as children of God we can profit from every trial. We can come out stronger, carrying more of His life and power.

Real faith is tested. Faith is immovable trust. Something will push against what we say we believe to see if we really believe it. Yet we can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil because the Lord is our Shepherd—and if we have Him, we have everything.

This Week’s Homework

• Read the book of James.  

• Read Romans 5.

James begins, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials…” You cannot count it joy with a carnal mind. But Jesus is our model—for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. He had a greater vision than the suffering in front of Him.

May the words “You are My beloved” echo in our hearts when temptation comes. May we arm ourselves with the mind of Christ—humble, others-focused, Spirit-led—and come out of every wilderness in the power of the Spirit.

This post was shaped from the transcript of a recent teaching with the help of AI tools. I reviewed and edited every part so it reflects my own thoughts, voice, and study of Scripture.

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Courtney Olson