Jeff Wright and Mick Bates

1. Identify the triggers. Learn to recognize those times when your thoughts and imagination wander into dangerous territory. Specifically, determine the triggers that commence the cascade of thoughts. If so, position yourself so that you won’t see them. If necessary, eliminate the distraction by rearranging the office furniture. Create a working environment that remains open, yet changes your view so that you can concentrate on the tasks at hand, not the travels of co-workers. If that’s not possible, create an alternative view for yourself by putting a family picture in your line of sight.

2. Cut off access. Similar to limiting the triggers, minimize your exposure to temptation. If your problem is with porn sites, do not put yourself in a circumstance where you have private Internet access and moreover, install software that makes it impossible to view websites that engender lust (see the Every Home Protected Filter). When you’re placed in a compromising situation with an attractive co-worker, such as meals alone or traveling to a tradeshow, flee the opportunity by making a stand, or simply making alternative arrangements. When you explain that you are honoring your spouse by not going to lunch unescorted with someone of the opposite sex, many (though not all) co-workers will see that as a sign of strength and honor. Reducing opportunities for lust will ultimately reduce lustful behavior.

3. Plan for the inevitable. The axiom ‘proper prior planning prevents poor performance’ applies here. When going on a business trip, plan ahead regarding how you will combat temptation. How will you deal with the TV? (One businessman we read about actually requests the TV be removed from his hotel room!). How many times will you call your spouse and when will you call? Have you allocated sufficient time for meditating on God’s Word? Where are you meeting customers? Is there a chance you will meet alone with a client of the opposite sex, and do you need to come up with a contingency plan? Setting standards for traveling, meetings, social interactions, and counseling with the opposite sex go far to inhibit temptation. Billy Graham and Zig Ziglar take it as far as never driving a woman to the airport unescorted. It’s remarkable how we can curtail temptation by simply planning to avoid it.

4. Be accountable. All of the above measures in some way honor God by making no provision for sexual sin. Another time-honored method ‘ and one that is immensely powerful ‘ is mutual accountability. Plain and simply, having an accountability partner or a group of peers who love you enough to ask the hard questions is invaluable. If you are not in one of these accountability relationships, find one. There are innumerable benefits, not the least of which is greater purity at work.

5. The most powerful remedy: divine detox. Many people find practical tips like those listed above to be quite helpful. The real key to victory, though, is a deep relationship with God. Jesus said, ”Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment’ (Matthew 22:37). One of the lessons we can draw from this Great Commandment is that the most effective way to remain pure on the job (or anywhere else) is to ensure your spiritual ‘reservoir’ is constantly full through the pursuit of a love relationship with God. When this reservoir becomes depleted due to lack of attention to the relationship (e.g., lack of prayer, worship, Bible reading, meditation, fasting, confession), opportunity abounds for sin to fill the void, particularly sexual sin. Sampson, David, and Solomon are all prime biblical examples of good people who stumbled when out of fellowship with God. Joseph on the other hand provides the essential counter-example because he trusted in God for something better and demonstrated the potential for a full reservoir to defeat temptation (Genesis 39).

Be honest with yourself. Don’t your greatest challenges with lust on the job correlate with your times of inattention to God? Indeed, there are physiological explanations for what we experience with lust, but at the most basic level, this is a spiritual problem. If you really want to win this war ‘ and that is a critical prerequisite for success ‘ attack it with spiritual weaponry. To conquer lust on the job today, tomorrow, next week and next year, develop a deeper relationship with God. Seek divine detox for your ailment. No laundry list of practical tips will assist you without it.