Temptation

I have pitched myself a tent, gathered some firewood, and have set up camp in the book of James for the time being. :) Wow, what an amazing book of the bible...I LOVE it! There is so much truth packed into those five short chapters that I literally find myself fist pumping and giving God air high-fives as I read it. Haha. Woohoo God! Praise Jesus.

You can expect quite a bit coming straight from James here over the next couple of weeks. God is speaking so loudly to me through these verses! Right away in chapter one I recognized my own misconceptions about the root causes of our sins, and I believe this is something very important to highlight so that we can claim our power in Christ and avoid the slippery slope that lands us in sin. Today we're talking about: temptation!  Dun dun dun. Most people think temptation is where sin begins, right? Hmmm....  

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:13-15)

Ah, temptation. Temptation, temptation, temptation. Our culture has done us a great disservice by making the idea of temptation seem sexy and alluring instead of what it REALLY is…a one-way ticket straight to death. We know that sin seems fun at first, but it always comes with consequences, and the ultimate consequence of sin is separation from God – eternal death. There is nothing sexy about it at the end of the day. I truly believe that those who will reach the highest levels of knowledge and maturity and closeness with God in this life are those who learn to reign in their own temptations, keeping them from unnecessary trouble and struggle.

But wait a second! I can't help what I am tempted by! That’s Satan’s job, and he’s throwing junk at me all day long!

We cannot give the enemy too much credit, because he can only tempt us by working with what is already in our hearts. We learn in verse 14 that he uses and capitalizes on our pre-existing weaknesses. For example, if you are in no way interested in drinking alcohol because you think it’s gross or just unappealing, Satan is not likely to entice you into becoming a raging alcoholic anytime soon. That desire of the flesh simply isn’t there. He has nothing to work with. If he wanted to move in and find a way to destroy my life, he wouldn't be able to use alcohol or drugs or any other substance to do it because “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” and I have zero desire for those things. No desire, no temptation. Does that make sense?

To help protect yourself from ever letting temptation begin,  you must first pinpoint and recognize what your sinful desires are. As soon as you can figure out what triggers you, you can begin to pray more specifically against those things. You can also share those weaknesses with an accountability partner so that they can lift you up and check in with you from time to time on how you are doing in the battle against those temptations.

I believe that we will be held accountable some day for every decision we make, no matter how much spiritual influence is in our life, because ultimately every temptation and sin was born from our own hearts. We cannot blame Satan...none of us will be able to stand in judgement someday and say, "Er...the devil made me do it!" We truly have no excuse, especially once the knowledge is revealed to us that only what was in our own sin nature to begin with was the cause of all of our problems. If we are working diligently to RID ourselves of the fleshly desires of our sinful hearts through frequent prayer and soaking in the truth of God's word, Satan has little ammo to use. 

It is a constant battle, and I do not believe that anyone will truly “arrive” this side of heaven to find a place where they are never tempted by things of this world. You will find that you will go through seasons where it is easier and harder to fight against the desires of your flesh. For one thing, our lives and our circumstances constantly change. One change in career, a relocation, a new friend, becoming a parent, getting married, or any other shift in our lives will introduce a whole new set of circumstances and awaken possible new sinful desires within us. That is why we must always be cognizant of battling against those desires right away so that they do not take root and “give birth to sin” and recognize that times of change are when Satan likes to come in for the attack most often!

“But I like flirting with so-and-so! It’s harmless! Yes, I think they are cute, but whatever…I’m married and I totally have a handle on it. We’re just having fun and it brightens my boring day a little bit.”

“Everybody gossips, what is the big deal? Seriously, when I find out information that is THAT good, I cannot keep it to myself!”

“I might have a little problem with bending the truth, but honestly telling little white lies all of the time makes me look better and the truth is more complicated. It isn’t hurting anyone.”

“My own life sucks, so I spend my day scrolling through social media wishing I had everyone else’s.”

“I don’t steal! But…I do take ‘extra’ things that no one is probably going to use anyway…I totally take advantage of crazy deals that pop up when businesses leave accidental loopholes in a coupon policy…that’s their fault, not mine, and okay, so I return things after I wear them out, no biggie!”

“No, I don’t go to church on Sundays. I need a day to be lazy or spend with my family doing other things. I am a busy person, and everyone needs a day to ‘just be.’”

“No, I don’t even feel bad about not doing anything remotely religious because my family is the most important thing to me anyway.”

“I’m not actually going to kill anyone, I just spend a lot of time thinking about it.” (Haha, okay, this one makes me laugh a little bit, but seriously, don’t do this!)

Can you match each of these things to the commandment from God to which they belong? Some of these statements might sound cheesy or silly to you, but I bet there is at least ONE that you can relate to and/or have said to yourself before in one way or another. These seemingly harmless thoughts are how sins begin. This is the exact kind of sneaky thing Satan uses to harden your heart against the truth of God, making you infertile ground instead of rich soil. I have a whole unpublished blog post on living our best lives possible, and I can tell you that if you think of yourself as a child of God and are consistently telling yourself any of those things above, you're not living it. God has so much more for you!

So no, contrary to popular belief, temptation is NOT where sin begins; rather, sin begins with the supply of ammo we give to the enemy in our own hearts - our fleshly desires. The day we decide to purposely stop giving Satan bullets to use against us is the day we will find ourselves feeling much less tempted to begin with. We cannot do it on our own...we must pray and ask God's help to rid us of the desires of our flesh. It simply isn't possible for us to cleanse our own hearts - that's God's job! Pray for God to reveal those things to you and to pluck those desires up by the roots. Figure out what triggers you and pray that God will take away any thrill, excitement, or pleasure when you even think of those things. If there is an area you know you really struggle with, grab yourself an accountability partner and get serious today about guarding your heart against the enemy. You CAN defeat him with God's help, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world! And....

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

(With all of this said, PRAY for me friends, because I have noticed a very real pattern that after I publish a blog post I am slammed with whatever it is I have written about! Heaven knows I don't need any extra temptation in my life! Haha.)

Happy day!