When I was a boy, I remember watching my friend John try to quit chewing gum. Not because gum was bad, but because our schoolteacher made him promise to stop chewing it in school. The next day, he showed up with his right cheek puffed out like a chipmunk. When I laughed at him, saying, "You really don't think she'll notice that?" He laughed back. “I can’t help it—I love gum!”
We laugh at something so small, but that same tug-of-war plays out in far weightier parts of our lives. We know what we shouldn’t do, yet our minds whisper, “But you love this.” That’s the root of most temptation. We’ve trained our hearts to love what our flesh craves, even when it offends God.
“Mind over matter” is a phrase we’ve all heard, but in spiritual battles, it doesn’t work that way. You can’t simply will yourself into victory. If you’ve ever tried to quit a sinful habit by sheer mental determination, you already know how quickly that house of cards collapses.
The truth is this: love creates desire—but hatred destroys it. When you love something, even a sinful thing, you nurture affection for it. That affection becomes desire, and desire leads you straight to disobedience. But when you learn to hate sin—the way God hates sin—your heart begins to reject it.
“You who love the LORD, hate evil: He preserves the souls of His saints…” — Psalm 97:10 (NKJV)
Hatred isn’t always bad. Misused, it wounds people. Used rightly, it destroys sin’s grip. God gave us the emotion of hatred for a purpose—to generate repulsion toward what is evil and harmful. Until love for sin turns to hate for sin, that sin will always pull at you.
Think about how many people have said, “That’s it, I’ll never do this again!” only to fall back into the same pattern—drinking, pornography, gossip, greed, or whatever else controls them. The problem isn’t a weak will; it’s a wrongly framed heart.
The Bible says,
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” — Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)
Your mind can’t simply “delete” sinful thoughts. It must be renewed—retrained—to think as God thinks. I recently talked about that in a devotion — Developing Godly Mindsets
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” — Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
Let me share a personal story with you. Over 35 years ago, I decided I would never again allow pornography into my life. But saying it wasn’t enough. I needed my heart to hate what I had once tolerated. So I asked God to help me see it through His eyes.
I began to think about those women in the videos. Many were sexually abused, manipulated, or trapped in cycles of pain and exploitation. I thought, They were once little girls—daughters—God’s daughters. They deserve healing, love, and freedom, not shame and destruction. The more I saw that truth, the more my affection for that sin turned to repulsion. I began praying for them instead of lusting after them.
That prayer changed everything. Each time temptation whispered, I prayed again: “Father, help them find You. Heal their hearts. Free them from this evil.” Hatred for what the devil had done replaced my desire, and temptation lost its power.
That’s how you defeat sin—by reframing what you think and feel about it. Love what God loves. Hate what God hates. When you see sin for what it truly is—a weapon Satan uses to destroy lives—you’ll stop craving it and start resisting it with passion.
Whether the battle is pornography, food, gossip, greed, or pride, the process is the same: pray, reframe, and renew your mind. When temptation comes, ask God to help you think His thoughts. Love what is pure. Hate what is corrupt. Let hatred for sin turn into intercession for those trapped in it.
“Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.” — Romans 6:18 (NLT)
