16 Mar Resources | Temptation Continuum

James 1:14-15
14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

If we put these 2 verses on a continuum it would look like this:

T= Temptation
This is the enticement to sin that all of us experience.  He uses a hunting image to describe the process.  When an animal is killed, it is dragged from the hunting ground to the place where it is consumed.  In the same way our temptations drag us away to sin.  But James is intent on making the point that temptation does not come from an outside source but originate internally.

D= Desires
Temptation is directly connected to our desires.  They are not “one size fits all” but are contoured, unique and personal.  The gestation period of temptation is as follows: desires begin as something we want, they soon become something we feel like we need and then quickly turn into something we demand.  This is not to say that all of our desires are inherently evil.  They may be good things that have become ultimate things.

S= Act on Desires/Sin
After the gestation period of temptation has come full term, it gives birth to sin.  We move from wanting to needing to demanding to acting.  Sin is participating in something that holds out promise to fulfill but is not what God intends for us.  The right time and opportunity are all we need to act on desires.

D= Death
The result of temptation connected to our desires that leads to sin is death.  While the ultimate result and consequence of sin is death, James wants us to know that we experience little deaths as a result of our sin before we enter the grave.  It is like a slow poisoning of our system as if our organs begin to shut down one at a time.  When one shuts down, the strain on the other organs to function becomes debilitating.  We loose energy, our passion and life.  The same thing happens spiritually.  The more we sin, the more separation exist between us and God.  The wider that gap becomes the less life we have.  Eventually we become an empty shell.

So where are you on this continuum?

1. How are you being tempted with {insert your sin struggle}? For example, power, control, sex, food, comfort, escape, gossip, etc.?

2. Chart your progression of desire: wanting, needing, demanding.  Where are you with a particular temptation?

3. How have you begun the gradual process of acting on your desires?  Are you at the shallow end of sin or are you in the deep end having worked yourself into patterns and habits?

4. How have you experienced little deaths?  Can you look back at former times of intimacy with God that have faded because you have not experienced them in years?  Have you lost the desire for holiness and righteousness you once had?  Have you retreated into hiding and self protection?

After you self identify, confess and repent.  There is good news: God gives grace to the humble.  He will forgive and restore life that has faded.

James 1:17
17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father…