It is fortunate that all of us have the ability to resist evil. This ability can be developed into a capacity useful in human life as we find the spiritual basis for true resistance. James said (4:7), "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
In the physical realm we resist forces constantly. In going down a stairway, we resist the gravitational pull that would impel us to the lower level at one step. In walking down the street, we often resist wind pressures that would push us in unwanted directions.
Why, then, should we hesitate to recognize certain forces in the mental realm that need to be resisted—the various pressures of evil? We may be inclined to seek pleasure in wrong concepts, to allow desire to become inordinate, to be taken in by the love of sin, to contemplate sickness as a reality. All of these, and many others, can be successfully resisted by the Christian Scientist.
