Resist The Temptation

• Who tempts us to sin?

• What does the phrase “evil desire” mean?

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
James 1:13 – 14

You are in the department store. You really need a new set of headphones. You don’t have any money. It would be so easy to just put those new headphones in your coat pocket and walk out of the store. Is God tempting you to steal something? Certainly not!

God does not want us to sin, and he will never tempt us to sin. We are tempted by our own desires, not by God. Remember that we have a sinful nature. Even though we have been reborn in Christ, we must continue to defeat our old sinful nature. It will keep rearing its ugly head, and with the power of Jesus, we must keep overcoming it.

So we need to resist blaming temptation on God. Instead, we need to call on him to help us resist temptation and avoid sin. We can pray and walk away from whatever is tempting us.

PRAYER
Dear God, thank you for not tempting us to sin. When we are tempted, please help us to turn away from temptation and toward you. Amen.