James 1:14, 15 says, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” We are all tempted at one time or another and I’m not primarily talking about sexual attraction. There are other temptations such as alcohol, drugs, the temptation to lie, cheat, steal, become angry and other like these. We are bothered by things like these daily and from time to time some of us give in to them.

What I want to talk about are the things that lead us to sin. I’m going to call these things triggers. A trigger put something into action. Like I said before we all are tempted but we don’t sin until we act out our temptation. What is it that really triggers or pushes you into your sin? Is it frustration, sadness, loneliness, jealousy, envy, fear or something else. We use these triggers to justify why we do sin. For instance we say things like; If they wouldn’t have did that to me I wouldn’t have cursed them out or you lie because the truth will get you in trouble. Even though there are reasons we give in to temptation, there are still no good reasons to sin. Ok let me get this out of the way, we all sin in one way or another but we shouldn’t do it intentionally. I know the enemy set traps to make you fall into temptation and that same trap has been working for a long time, but you still can over come it. First you need to truly repent and this means to turn back from the sin with the honest desire not to return to it. Some of us confuse repenting with lamenting. To lament is to feel bad about the wrong you are doing but not really turning away from the sin. Ask God reveal all the things that trigger you to sin and pray for help in these areas daily as many times as needed. If you fall get back up and try again. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says,” No temptation has over taken you such as common to man; and God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape also that you will able to endure it.” Reading this we know we have a way of escape, but for some reason we don’t always take it. I know you have been in a moment where you are going to get mad and go off and something in your spirit told you to walk away or shut up its not worth it, but you went off anyway doing more harm than good. A lot of the time if we just walk away from that thing that is tempting us, that strong urge to fall into that temptation sooner or later will pass.

Resisting the urge to act out your temptations take having Jesus in your life and discipline. You have to practice resisting everyday. Some days are not going to be good at all but if you hang in there, you will have more good days than bad days. So every time you get tempted to sin, take time to remember God has provided a way out.

I’m going to leave you with Proverb 26:11. It says, “A dog returns to his vomit, a fool repeats his folly.” Don’t be a fool.

Prayer

Father God how awesome You are. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Father God this world offers us so many things we shouldn’t have and this flesh urges us to do things we shouldn’t do. We ask for strength right now, in the name of Jesus, to endure temptation. We are going to do our part by studying Your word, meditating on good things, and worshiping You. Keep us Father. In Jesus name we pray. Amen