Pull on the Bit: How to Bridle Your Flesh When Temptation Is Screaming

Have you ever been in a situation where temptation was pulling at you so hard you thought you’d lose the fight?

Not the kind of temptation you read about in a book. The kind that shows up in a hotel room at midnight when nobody knows where you are. The kind that whispers, “Nobody will ever find out.” Today I’m going to get more transparent with you than most preachers ever will — because what I’m about to share is how you actually use the bridle when it matters most.

The bridle isn’t theory. It’s warfare.

Yesterday we established from James 3 that your tongue is a bit for your body and a rudder for your life. We saw that Jesus Himself opened His mouth on the mountain of temptation to bridle His flesh.

But today I want to show you what that looks like in the real world — not on a mountain two thousand years ago, but in a hotel room, on a business trip, in the middle of a thought that won’t stop firing at you.

Because if the bridle only works in a sermon illustration, it’s useless. It has to work at 2 a.m. when your flesh is screaming and the enemy is whispering. And I’m here to tell you — it does.

Jesus didn’t just “soldier on” — and neither can you.

Let me take you back to Matthew 4 for a second. After forty days of fasting, Jesus is at His absolute weakest physically. His body is feeding on itself. And the devil shows up and says, “If You’re really the Son of God, turn these stones to bread.”

Does Jesus stiffen His lip and ignore it? Does He just “push through”? No. He opens His mouth.

It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Matthew 4:4 NKJV

He wasn’t just answering the devil. He was bridling His own body. He was reminding His flesh who was in charge.

That moment on the mountain was a declaration of war. Jesus proved at His weakest that the enemy had nothing in Him. And because He demonstrated that — by using His tongue to overcome every temptation — His disciples had the authority to use His name while He was still walking the earth.

The bridle isn’t just personal discipline. It’s a weapon.

I’ve had to use this weapon against adultery — more than once.

I’m going to be more honest with you than you might be comfortable with. But if it helps one person, it’s worth it.

I have been tempted to commit adultery multiple times. I’ve never done it — not during my first marriage, not during my divorce, and not in sixteen years of marriage to Terry. But the temptation has come, and it’s come hard.

I was in a hotel room overseas one time. Alone. The thought fired at me — “Nobody knows you’re here. You could walk out of this room and no one would ever find out.” And it kept firing. Over and over.

Here’s what I did. I opened my mouth.

“I refuse to leave this room. I am not setting one foot outside this door. That is from beneath and I am from above. That is of this world and I am not of this world.”

Then I started running it through understanding. I said to myself — out loud — “If I sow this seed to the flesh, there will be a day I have to look into the eyes of the woman I love and tell her I betrayed her. I’ll have to look at my daughter. I’ll have to stand before congregations that trusted me. I’ll have to stare into a camera and tell my partners I betrayed them.”

I was pulling on the bit. I was utilizing my tongue to bridle my body, to bring myself to a place of understanding. Because Proverbs says a man who commits adultery is devoid of understanding — and I refuse to be devoid of understanding.

I bring it into the light every single time.

Here’s something most people won’t do. Every time I’m tempted in this area, I tell my wife. Every time. Because the Bible says that which makes manifest is light, and these things can only come to fruition in darkness.

I’ve gotten on my knees before Terry and said, “I had a dream about another woman. I don’t want that woman. How do I know? Because I’m telling you about it. Lay your hands on me and agree with me — I belong to you.”

People think that’s extreme. I think it’s survival.

If you have a good marriage, bring this stuff into the light with your spouse. If your marriage isn’t in a place where you can do that, call somebody. Call our prayer line. And don’t say, “I don’t want to give my name.” That’s not bringing it into the light. You say your name. You say what you’re dealing with. Darkness cannot operate where light has been spoken.

I kissed my wife from the pulpit — and I meant it.

Bill Winston told me once that for every hundred people in your service, there are two who want to sleep with you. How do I handle that?

I kiss my wife on the platform. I talk about how much I love her. I talk about how much I want her. What am I doing? I’m putting it on record. I’m utilizing my mouth to bridle my flesh — and sometimes theirs.

When I was at a training event and a woman was making eyes at me, I called Terry that night and told her everything. The next morning, the first thing I did around everybody was start talking about my wife — how she was my best friend, how I loved her, how I wanted her.

I went on record with my mouth. That’s the bridle in action. That’s how you keep the enemy from getting a foothold. Not by gritting your teeth and hoping you’re strong enough — but by opening your mouth and declaring where you stand.

This applies to every area where your flesh is winning.

Now, I used adultery because it’s the one nobody wants to talk about honestly. But this principle applies to everything — fear, anger, addiction, spending, gossip, unforgiveness, food, laziness. Whatever area your flesh has been ruling over you, the bridle works the same way.

You open your mouth. You speak truth. You declare what the Word says. You refuse to let the wrong words come out by replacing them with the right ones. You bring the dark things into light.

That’s how Jesus did it. That’s how James said it works. And that’s how I’ve survived thirty years of ministry without destroying my life.

Pick up the bridle. Use it today.

Your flesh is going to talk to you. Temptation is going to pull at you. Thoughts are going to fire at your mind that you didn’t invite.

You have a choice. You can stiff-lip it and hope you’re strong enough. Or you can open your mouth, pull on the bit, and put your flesh on notice that it’s not in charge anymore.

Pick up the bridle. Open your mouth. Fight To Win.