Pursuit of Truth

Truly, the root of all evil (at least I believe so). The LORD’s prayer simply and clearly states: “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This means that all sin starts with temptation, which perfectly fits with the events that happened in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, if you generally want to know if something is a sin or not, see if it started with a temptation.

Now, do not get temptation confused with desires. For example, I am excited to see my family; I desire to see them. See, satan did not twist my mind to believe that was good and what I wanted. Temptation is almost an inner dialog where sin and the Holy Spirit battle, and due to our sickness, we often follow sin.

Here’s an example. Gambling is inherently not a sin; there is nothing wrong with spending money on entertainment (of course there are obvious exceptions to this, like sexual content, but this would fall under lust and that is inherently a sin). However, the sin lies in the temptation to gamble to get more money. If you gamble because you are tempted to make more money, or to run from your problems, then that is a sin.

It is hard to define temptation, but thankfully the LORD blesses us with the power of discernment to know what is and isn’t temptation.