James 1:13-15
“God…does not tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
I was motivated to come to an understanding of this scripture when I began seeing this happen to my children; when I saw, somewhat from the outside, the whole process of how sin draws and entices, leading each of us to death. I’ve come to an understanding of this in my own life and have learned how crucial it is to deal with sin when it is in the enticing/tempting stages, but it has been immeasurably scary watching my children go through things, and watching them engage in the fight. As much as I love them, and as much as I work hard to provide the right soil for the field upon which they will be engaging in this fight and the weapons they’ll need to fight the battle, there is such a huge feeling of powerlessness. Watching the battle right in front of my eyes, as each of my children have battled with sin and battled to draw close to God, has made me get on my knees more than anything else in my life.
One of the things that we sometimes miss in dealing with sin is facing how enticing it is. IT LOOKS GOOD!!! There is a reason WHY we are drawn to it. We’ve got to understand that it feels good, it looks good, and there is a great amount of enjoyment in it; otherwise we wouldn’t do it most of the time. As I’ve talked with my kids, this is one of the areas I have tried to explore with them: WHAT IS THE PULL?! What is it about it that makes it so appealing? The only way I can help them is, first, in understanding my own temptations; the things that pull at me. I try, when we talk, to make sure that I share very personally and specifically about not only the sins I’ve committed in the past, but what the things are that entice me now, both when I have relied on God and fought and won, and when I have failed to fight and sinned.
Satan is sneaky and he must be exposed. He knows how to make things appealing, and we need to have an honest evaluation of what we’re drawn to and how to withstand, flee from, or fight against the allure.
Jennifer Konzen
San Diego, CA
