Get thee hence

I recently made it a personal goal to spend less time on my phone during the day.

I was super committed.

I deleted apps that sucked my time.

I set time limits.

I was ready.

But then I noticed that even though I had made the goal…

Whenever I had a spare moment, I’d still pull my phone out of my pocket and find something to still distract me!

Something had to change in order for it to work.

I realized that the only way I was going to improve was if I got rid of the temptation.

I started plugging my phone into the charger in a different room.

And funny enough, my success rate suddenly improved!

It’s not a sin to be tempted.

Jesus, the perfect person, was tempted in three different ways as He finished communing with God through fasting.

But we can always control how we react to those temptations, right?

And, as usual, our Savior gives us the perfect example.

He responded with:

“Get thee hence, Satan.”⁣ (Matthew 4:10)

He got rid of the temptation.

He asked it to leave.

He made it so that He wouldn’t have to endure the temptation for too long.

I can attest to this being true.

It is so hard to have to constantly resist temptation.

When I’ve used my creativity and agency to get rid of the temptation (as reasonably as possible), I am much more likely to be able to cast out my distractions and refocus on what matters most.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black