“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 1:14–15, ESV)
The two verses above explain how desires and temptations and sin cause suffering and death. You’d be wise to see this connection!
James 1:14 begins by asserting that desires “lure and entice” you. When that happens, “each person is tempted”. If you allow yourself to give in to your temptations and desires, they will, as James 1:15 claims, “give birth to sin”. The result of sin that is “fully grown” is “death” (James 1:15). Put simply, you have the following things occurring in your life….
A) You will be tempted by your desires.
B) If you give in to those desires, you will sin.
C) If you sin, it will have deadly consequences if the process is not stopped.
How do you stop it? Repent of your sin and change your ways. Come back to God. Let go of your sinful desires so you are less tempted. Accept God’s forgiveness and grace. Watch out for new desires and temptations to pop up or old desires and temptations to creep back in!
You may be wondering how it is possible for desires to lead to temptation and then to sin, with deadly consequences. It is actually common for this to occur. Think about the following:
Men like Ebenezer Scrooge and his partner Marley were lured by the desire for money to succumb to the sin of greed. The ghost of Marley informed Scrooge of how this sin resulted in his suffering and death.
Steve McKeown, a psychoanalyst, reported that after succumbing to the temptation of money for sex, 90 percent of women in the sex industry wanted to escape but felt imprisoned by the industry. 70 percent of them had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (as high as military veterans!). A huge percentage of those involved in the porn industry commit suicide or die by overdose or alcohol/drug related issues.
Those who are tempted to divorce as an easy way out of difficulties in marriage have found that life isn’t necessarily easier after divorce. In fact, people who divorce on average die at a younger age than those who remain married.
Those who are found guilty and serve sentences for theft or robbery or murder were very likely to end back in prison within three years. One-third of these convicted felons ended up back in prison, unable to resist the desire and temptation to break the law again.
When you sin (not if!), please notice that certain desires and temptations got you where you are! If you do not repent and work on those temptations and desires, the sin will simply return in time. If you don’t stop this cycle, it will add to your suffering or hasten your death.
Jesus died on that cross in order to break this cycle of “desire to temptation to sin to death”. He gave us a way out of this deadly spiral. Even in his first sermon, Jesus called on the faithful to “Repent” (Matthew 4:17). This was HIS way of breaking the deadly cycle of sin and offering human reconciliation with God. True repentance breaks the cycle of “desire to temptation to sin to death”. Repentance is where you start when things go wrong in your spiritual life.
Some people have this notion that true repentance means just saying you are “sorry” for a wrong. That’s close, but not entirely correct. The Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible for repentance mean to “turn things around”. It implies a spiritual “one hundred-eighty-degree turn”. If something is tempting you to sin, you walk away from it. If you find your fleshly desires coming between you and Jesus, you must reject them. If you regularly get caught up with one specific sin, you need to turn away from the sin and come back to God for strength and healing.
I would love to teach you are immune to sinful desires. I would love to preach that long-term sin doesn’t breed death. To say such things would be a lie. Let’s be honest. None of us, save for Jesus Christ, is capable of a sinless life. We all succumb to our baser selves. We all falter at various temptations. It is part of being human. It is a sad consequence of the downfall of humankind.
You need to face up to the fact that you are weak before the cycle of “desire to temptation to sin to death”. You can’t beat it! But, with God’s help you may just overcome and break the cycle. Jesus is your Savior from the cycle of sin and death. Will you lean on him when things start to go awry? Will you trust in God’s deliverance? Will you obey God’s law? Will you accept God’s grace in Jesus Christ?
James 1:14 begins by asserting that desires “lure and entice” you. When that happens, “each person is tempted”. If you allow yourself to give in to your temptations and desires, they will, as James 1:15 claims, “give birth to sin”. The result of sin that is “fully grown” is “death” (James 1:15). Put simply, you have the following things occurring in your life….
A) You will be tempted by your desires.
B) If you give in to those desires, you will sin.
C) If you sin, it will have deadly consequences if the process is not stopped.
How do you stop it? Repent of your sin and change your ways. Come back to God. Let go of your sinful desires so you are less tempted. Accept God’s forgiveness and grace. Watch out for new desires and temptations to pop up or old desires and temptations to creep back in!
You may be wondering how it is possible for desires to lead to temptation and then to sin, with deadly consequences. It is actually common for this to occur. Think about the following:
Men like Ebenezer Scrooge and his partner Marley were lured by the desire for money to succumb to the sin of greed. The ghost of Marley informed Scrooge of how this sin resulted in his suffering and death.
Steve McKeown, a psychoanalyst, reported that after succumbing to the temptation of money for sex, 90 percent of women in the sex industry wanted to escape but felt imprisoned by the industry. 70 percent of them had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (as high as military veterans!). A huge percentage of those involved in the porn industry commit suicide or die by overdose or alcohol/drug related issues.
Those who are tempted to divorce as an easy way out of difficulties in marriage have found that life isn’t necessarily easier after divorce. In fact, people who divorce on average die at a younger age than those who remain married.
Those who are found guilty and serve sentences for theft or robbery or murder were very likely to end back in prison within three years. One-third of these convicted felons ended up back in prison, unable to resist the desire and temptation to break the law again.
When you sin (not if!), please notice that certain desires and temptations got you where you are! If you do not repent and work on those temptations and desires, the sin will simply return in time. If you don’t stop this cycle, it will add to your suffering or hasten your death.
Jesus died on that cross in order to break this cycle of “desire to temptation to sin to death”. He gave us a way out of this deadly spiral. Even in his first sermon, Jesus called on the faithful to “Repent” (Matthew 4:17). This was HIS way of breaking the deadly cycle of sin and offering human reconciliation with God. True repentance breaks the cycle of “desire to temptation to sin to death”. Repentance is where you start when things go wrong in your spiritual life.
Some people have this notion that true repentance means just saying you are “sorry” for a wrong. That’s close, but not entirely correct. The Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible for repentance mean to “turn things around”. It implies a spiritual “one hundred-eighty-degree turn”. If something is tempting you to sin, you walk away from it. If you find your fleshly desires coming between you and Jesus, you must reject them. If you regularly get caught up with one specific sin, you need to turn away from the sin and come back to God for strength and healing.
I would love to teach you are immune to sinful desires. I would love to preach that long-term sin doesn’t breed death. To say such things would be a lie. Let’s be honest. None of us, save for Jesus Christ, is capable of a sinless life. We all succumb to our baser selves. We all falter at various temptations. It is part of being human. It is a sad consequence of the downfall of humankind.
You need to face up to the fact that you are weak before the cycle of “desire to temptation to sin to death”. You can’t beat it! But, with God’s help you may just overcome and break the cycle. Jesus is your Savior from the cycle of sin and death. Will you lean on him when things start to go awry? Will you trust in God’s deliverance? Will you obey God’s law? Will you accept God’s grace in Jesus Christ?