Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Listen to the Word

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.  (James 1:13-15)

Our Scripture starts with instruction that seems unnecessary at first glance: don’t blame God for tempting you. We know that God is holy and opposed to sin – of course he wouldn’t tempt us, right? But we do sometimes point a finger at him after we fall. “God, if you wouldn’t have made me this way…” Or maybe we do something that rates a 100 on the stupid scale, which makes a big mess, and then we get mad at God for letting us do it. James makes it clear that we can’t blame God when we are nabbed by temptation.

James won’t even let us get away with blaming the people around us, or the media, or even the Devil. He points instead to our own evil desire. He says if you want to find the main source of the problem, you need to take a look in the mirror.

Live the Word

Have you tried to pass the blame for a recent failure? Confess that to God, and acknowledge to him that your failure was your responsibility.