Temptations: Where Do They Come From?

“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (v. 14).

We must recognize what a problem is before we can do anything to solve it. About two years ago, my office began to give off an awful odor. I looked everywhere for the source of smell. I cleaned the floors, took out the trash, and searched every corner—still nothing. Around this time we had recently been given a new puppy, and obviously he hadn’t been house trained, for I soon discovered the source of the smell. Behind a small guitar stand in my office lay a pile of old and hardened dog droppings, which had formed into bricks by then! That’s what the smell was! I cleaned it up, and soon my office was finally bearable.

But you know, I couldn’t take care of the problem (the stench) without identifying it. And the same principle applies to the temptations we face in the Christian life—we can do nothing about our temptations until we discover what the source is. Why are we always slipping up on the same old sins? Why are we being tempted to sin all the time as believers? And why are temptations so frequent? James answers: “[But] each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (v. 14). The source of our temptation is our own desire.

It’s desire. Desire is the culprit. Desire is problem. Desire is the root and the source of our temptations. The problem is within us—it’s not on the outside, but buried within our innermost beings.

James uses a fishing metaphor here to describe what happens in our temptations. He pictures a man who is lured away as with bait, and enticed by it because it portrays itself as something he needs. When you fish, you bait a hook. Before you drop the line in, you cover the hook with a jig and bait—it is so that the fish sees it as something he needs (food) and he goes after it, seeking satisfaction for his hunger. When he bites the bait, we jerk the pole and snag him—lift him out of the water where he dies and then he fries in fish grease so that we can eat him (if you like fried fish, that is).

It’s the same way with sin in our lives. It looks like something we need—it looks like something we need to satisfy us. Sin never appears to be dangerous, did you know that? Temptation never says, “Don’t do this. This will disgrace the name of God and hurt your witness. This will damage your relationship with God.” No, it sounds more like, “This will be fun! This won’t hurt! No one will ever know. Just do it.”

Our desires are deceptive, and it’s important to realize that our desires are the thing that pulls us in. It’s imperative to realize that the real problem is our own desires. Even when we are tempted by Satan, it is only our desires that he can use against us. He cannot make you do something against your desires. We’ve been born into this world as sinners—naturally inclined to sinning against God. But if we’re born again, we have new natures and no excuse for continuing in the same sins.

Examine your desires today. What consumes you the most? Do you passionately long for communion with God, or do you desire sin? Pray that God would replace your desires for sin with a consuming passion for His glory and for fellowship with Him.

Seeking Christ,
Bro. Brandon G. B.

Bro. Brandon is the Associate Pastor of Youth and

Children at Ohio Valley Baptist Church. His sermons,

podcasts, book reviews, and other free ministry

resources can be found on Brandon's Desk