The Sefer Chasidim writes that he has a wonderful way to control one’s evil inclination so that one will not commit any sins. He says that any time one is confronted by a sin and the evil inclination is pushing one to do it, one should consider that if they would decree that he should change his religion, he would definitely give away his life for the honor of Hashem, and does he really think that controlling one’s evil desires is more difficult than giving one’s life away? It is therefore fitting for him to conquer his desire for the sake of his Creator. We see with our own eyes that most Jews would give their lives away to sanctify the name of Hashem, but there is not even one who will completely conquer his inclination and be a righteous man who does only good and will never sin. The reason for this is either that the evil inclination does not persuade one so much when it concerns giving away one’s life or that everyone considers the sin of changing one’s religion to be extremely great, as opposed to other sins which the inclination manages to minimize in the eyes of the creations, or because a person thinks that death takes only a second and anyway everyone dies in the end, and by giving away one’s life one will be
