I heard a local Pastor who speaks at our church, cover these verses recently. I think that it is important to look at this passage in James, if we are not familiar with it. We are going to examine the Cycle Of Sin-From Start To Finish, in this post.
“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
The Cycle of Temptation Then Desire
Sin has a cycle! Did you know that? All too often, we blame our temptations on someone else, God is who we often blame. God is never the one to blame though. He did NOT introduce us to sin. He actually died FOR our sin. Satan is the first one who tempted the first couple that God created. He started with Eve, in fact. Satan, the serpent, in this case, deceived Eve. Adam, however CHOSE to sin by eating the fruit that God specifically told him not to eat.
- Temptation– Temptation is not of God but by allowing our evil desire to drag us away and attract us
- Desire When Desire has attracted us, then conceives and it gives birth to Sin
- Sin when fully grown– at its ultimate point, results in death. It could be spiritual and physical. Sin ends by avoiding God! We stop caring about Him and about our sin.
The Cycle of Desire Then Sin
Desire is created when we are attracted to something. We can be attracted to a person, a food, an item in the store or any particular sin. The more we dwell on what we are attracted to, the more attracted we become, the more we are tempted to get or do something that we shouldn’t do. Then when we are fully attracted, and make the decision to buy, eat, do, or be with someone, then we Sin.
The Cycle of Sin Then Death
Sin results in death. I wrote above, that we stop caring about spiritual things, and we don’t care about our relationship with God when we are spiritually dead. We can even experience physical death too if we make such a huge mistake like drinking while driving, for example. When we stop caring about one sin, we usually stop caring about most sin! We don’t care about morals, about our language, about relationships, then about our spiritual condition like being around godly people we know and not hearing God’s Word.
I challenge you to think about the areas in your life that causes temptation, then look at the attraction, then what sinning, will lead you to. Do you see the cycle of sin-from start to finish?
To me sin is when I do without God. ‘The man is become as one of us,’ independent, a god. Whereas sins are the resulting lifestyle. Sin is the cause, sins the effect. ‘Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’
You always manage to get the perfect words that make things very clear. It is so true also that no one has to teach a small child how to lie, cheat, steal or just be mean. They all ready know how to be bad. It is the parents job to teach children to be good and the consequences of being bad. It is sad when grownups try to justify their sins looking for approval in all the wrong places. One day it will be too late. Time will be up. Then all will know Jesus Is Lord and the only Door to Life. Keep up the good teaching that you are so good at. It is so needed!
I try to make Scripture and Scriptural principles easy to digest and understand. I feel that if more people did that, it might be easier at least for some, to apply it!
I agree. You do it better than most.
💜 “Sin” doesn’t exist EveryOne; don’t be Fooled by Religion, trust YOUR!!! heart EveryBody…recently My Marvellous Mom 👩 Turned Away from a White, Elderly Man with a Long White Beard to Trust Solely in Brother Jesu (brown, between white, black, yellow et al) a Normal Human Being with Special Talents like Many Of Us, The Christ/Moses Bloodline, The Christ Conscious Shared by ALL the Prophets in Any Version of The Bible YOU!!! Care to Study; a Christian is Mocked with the Label as per My Moms 👩 Epiphanies about the Followers of the Teachings of Christ that have been Totally Corrupted by Men while Ladies 🚺 ARE Confused and DOING NOTHING!!!
…💛💚💙…
Yernasia, again you are completely off the mark. If “sin” doesn’t exist, how do you explain your hatred for your father? Your hatred is itself sin since Jesus taught we should love even our enemies. And if your dad did bad things to you, that was sin.
You really need help.
I think you need to look at how your views line up with real Scripture. You will have to answer to God someday for the way that you live your life, whether you think this is true or not.
Great word! Timely for the Body of Christ!
Great look into the cycle of sin. I think of the foods I am trying to avoid because they make me sick, but taste so good. The desire hangs me up sometimes. I try to have healthy, good for my body choices at home. Temptation, desire then sin. Good explanation. Applies to so much.
Thank you!