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If you’ve ever been in an addiction recovery program, you know that having an organized relapse prevention plan is part of staying clean–and part of an effective relapse prevention plan is knowing your personal “triggers” or weak points. One recovering alcoholic may be easily roped into “drinking away” her troubles; another may habitually reach for the bottle when bored; still another may be used to celebrating special occasions with a glass of wine. And these categories have subcategories: one person’s greatest stressor is socializing at networking events; another may be invigorated by networking but turn into a bundle of nerves over bad news on CNN.

Even if you’ve never been tempted by any chemical stronger than coffee, everyone has areas of special vulnerability to sin that starts with “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” While sometimes we get caught off guard and can only cry out to God for His “way of escape,” it’s just plain foolish to deliberately walk into a situation we know brings out the worst in us.

If you aren’t sure of your weakest areas, recall the last several times you acted in ways that left you convicted of sin, and ask God to help you see what these situations had in common. (You may want to get help from a trusted friend or spiritual mentor.) Some “sin triggers” that are common problems for believers:

• False guilt. Not every unsavory impulse or failure to give what’s expected is a sin. One of the devil’s favorite methods of tempting believers is to first soften them up by convincing them they’ve already done wrong: he knows about human tendencies to reason “I’ve already blown it so I might as well go in deeper.”
• Overload. Another of the devil’s favorite tactics is summed up in the saying, “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” When we feel we have to fill every need that comes our way, to the point we neglect prayer and rest time, we become ineffective at best. And, frequently, highly susceptible to sins of resentment and pride: “I work so hard and not even God gives me the acknowledgment and reward I deserve. Everybody’s just a selfish jerk!”
• Fatigue or illness. Being worn down and under the weather brings out the worst in people. If you find yourself frequently getting irritable or making promises you can’t keep, often the most spiritual thing you can do is take a few weeks’ vacation without email. Or at least start saying “Sorry, I can’t help with that” more often, and going to bed earlier and eating more vegetables and protein.
• Ingrained habits. Returning to the addiction example, there are people who really can’t take a sip of beer or log into a Facebook account without careening into a binge of the worst order; that first move may be a conscious decision, but their brains are literally programmed to take it and run with it, and the only way they can control themselves is to abstain from the activity altogether. Even people without diagnosable addictions have brain neurochannels programmed to respond in specific ways to specific situations: i. e., habits. There are two rules of breaking bad habits: find healthy habits to replace them, and think long and hard before going “just a little” way down the trail that consistently takes you into wrong behavior.

The good news is, God can use even our weaknesses for His purposes–which is one reason He doesn’t always eliminate our weaknesses even when we’re eager to be rid of them. Follow the example of St. Paul: give your weaknesses to God for His use, even as you trust Him to use your strengths.

Everything He creates–even the temptation-vulnerable areas of our personalities–He creates for a good reason.

COMING SOON! My new e-book, 100 Ways to Live as an Optimist in a Pessimistic World, will be released this spring. Join the 100 Ways email list for up-to-date news, special offers, and teaser optimism tips!