Watch the Approaches of Temptation

From Triumph Over Temptation (Houston, John M. Triumph Over Temptation. Colorado Springs: Victor, 2005)

"It is not enough to watch our circumstances to detect the times of temptation. We must also watch our hearts to know when temptation might approach us." (170)

"It is an advantage to know oneself, because temptations often lie in one's natural disposition and personality." (171)

"To avoid temptation, we each need to understand our natural temperament. by doing this, we guard against the natural treacheries within us" (171)

"Just as people have differing and distinctive personalities, so they are also affected by distinctive temptations. These relate to their nature, education, and other factors. Unless we are conscious of these propensities, relationships, and dynamic possibilities, temptation will constantly entangle us. This is why it is so important to know ourselves-our temperaments and our attitudes." (171)

"If people did not remain strangers to themselves, they would not maintain all their lives in the same paralyzed state. But they give flattering names to their own natural weaknesses. They try to justify, palliate, or excuse the evils of their own hearts, rather than uproot and destroy them ruthlessly. They never gain a realistic view of themselves. Ineffective lives and scandal grow like branches out of this root of self-ignorance. How few truly seek to know themselves or possess the courage to do so." (172)