Owning our Desire

“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. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

(James 1:13-15 ESV)

Our natural tendency, when we are tempted or when we fall into sin, is to direct the blame elsewhere. We blame others, who’ve caused the temptation, even if it was unintentional. We blame others, whom we accuse of causing us to sin.

We even go as far as blaming God. We blame him because he allowed the circumstances which led to our temptation or sin. We blame God because, in our mind, he didn’t do enough to help.

Going back to the beginning of the Bible, we see that this was also the case with Adam and Eve. When God confronted Adam about his sin, he pointed the finger at Eve. And, indirectly, he also pointed his finger at God, who’d given him this woman.

When God confronted Eve, she did the same thing. She also placed the blame elsewhere. She blamed the serpent, who had deceived her.

We often fail to acknowledge that we ourselves are the source of the temptation. As James points out in the above passage, we are tempted when we are lured and enticed by our own desire. So, then, it’s our desire, it’s our sinful lusts, that cause temptation.

The same is true when it comes to sin. Sin flows from our wicked desires. When our desire conceives, James says, it gives birth to sin.

The result of this, of course, is our judgment. Because of our sin, we receive the penalty of our sin. When sin is fully grown, James says, it brings forth death.

I’m not denying that others can sometimes play a role in enticing us. I’m not denying that Satan himself can play a role in this. However, the reason it becomes an issue for us is because of our own sinful nature. Apart from this nature, the provocations and allurements of others would not be an issue.

What we learn from this is that, when we are tempted, we cannot blame others. When we sin, we cannot blame others. We must own our desires, we must own our temptation, and we must own our sin. We must acknowledge it to the Lord, seeking his forgiveness and strength.