by Wilson Adams<\/p>\n
Jesus’ brother writes, “Each person is tempted when ____ …<\/em>” (James 2:14). Fill in the blank of people, circumstances, and culture you can blame. “Hey, it’s not really my fault!” Well, James says it is. Keep reading.<\/p>\n “Each person is tempted when he <\/b>is carried away and enticed by his <\/b>own lust <\/em>…” According to James, when it comes to giving in, we are our own worst enemy. It’s … On … Us.<\/p>\n Question: Why do we think we can get edgy-close and handle more than we can? After all, we are warned in both Testaments: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18) and “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall<\/em>” (I Corinthians 10:12).<\/p>\n Why such stern warnings?<\/p>\n Because we over<\/strong>estimate our ability to resist temptation and under<\/strong>estimate the energy resistance demands. Fighting temptation is fatiguing because warfare is fatiguing. By the way, the part of your brain that controls your willpower multitasks in other areas: coping with stress, regulating emotions, and making decisions. Your brain works overtime keeping your self-control controlled.<\/p>\n It’s why willpower wanes.<\/p>\n It’s like fuel for your car; the more you use, the less you have. That’s why you must refuel with Scripture, prayer, and association with those who will walk you closer to Jesus. Why is that important? Because we’re not that great in the moment.<\/p>\n The truth is we’re not as strong as we think we are. Thanks be to God for what He gives us to refuel, stay ready, and overcome. So, when you mess up, own it, learn from it, and stay away from the edge.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Wilson Adams Jesus’ brother writes, “Each person is tempted when ____ …” (James 2:14). Fill in the blank of people, circumstances, and culture you can blame. “Hey, it’s not really my fault!” Well, James says it is. Keep reading. “Each person is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[354],"class_list":["post-67822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-responsibility"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-all-temptations-come-from-satan\/","url_meta":{"origin":67822,"position":0},"title":"Do all temptations come from Satan?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Although I've read it several times before, I was discussing James 1:13-15 with my mother. In many of your explanations of this verse, you explain that Satan uses our own desires against us to break God's laws. I explained to my mother that our desires lead us into temptations\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25992,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-temptation-and-lust\/","url_meta":{"origin":67822,"position":1},"title":"What is the difference between temptation and lust?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi I was reading some of the questions that many have posted and one of them caught my attention. In it, you said that being tempted is not a sin. Many of the things we do that are wrong start in the mind, right? So when do the thoughts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7771,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-adam-and-eve-bound-to-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":67822,"position":2},"title":"Were Adam and Eve bound to sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My thesis is that Adam was bound to fall. How long Adam or Eve could resist not eating the forbidden fruit? Because as long as Adam and Eve were in the garden that tree was always before them. As long as they resist eating the fruit they would remain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57080,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-defeat-temptation\/","url_meta":{"origin":67822,"position":3},"title":"How to Defeat Temptation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton Whenever we think of something as a temptation we consider it evil. The original Latin could suggest something good or bad but the evil sense has taken a predominant role in its definition. The idea of temptation is rooted in the challenge of character. Trials rightly faced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7672,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-free-will-and-predetermined-destiny-contradictory\/","url_meta":{"origin":67822,"position":4},"title":"Are free will and predetermined destiny contradictory?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Seems to me that free will and predetermined destiny is just a big contradiction. Can you convince me it is not? Answer: Play chess against a grand-master of the game. Even before you begin, I could state in advance that you will lose with great certainty. Though each move\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21828,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-sin-is-it-spiritual-or-physical\/","url_meta":{"origin":67822,"position":5},"title":"What is sin? Is it spiritual or physical?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is sin? Is it related to the spiritual or the physical? Answer: The simplest definition of sin is, \"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness\" (I John 3:4). Sin is when you break one of God's laws. All sins start from inside, \"For out of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}