The devil made me do it

James 1:13-14 (NLT)
13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

The Apostle James reminds us the temptation to sin does not come from God. Logically James states if God is never tempted to do anything wrong; then how could God tempt someone to do wrong? God does not promote that which He Himself considers evil. Therefore temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and call us to follow.

The comedian Flip Wilson was responsible for creating popular cultural phrases, such as “What you see is what you get”. It was so popular Xerox used WYSIWG (What You See Is What you Get) as an acronym to describe viewing and printing. Another famous quote Flip Wilson coined was, “The devil made me do it!” Often in Wilson’s comedy routines the character Geraldine Jones would explain to her husband, the reverend, she was not to be blamed for her actions because “the devil made her do it”. If she bought a dress, wrecked a car, gambled, etc, her excuse was always “the devil made me do it”. The bible calls Satan the tempter, but nowhere in the bible does it say Satan controls our thoughts or our response to temptation. The truth is our sinful nature wants to blame someone else when we sin. I really don’t need any help to sin. I sin just fine by myself. Satan may point out opportunities to sin, he may place the enticement in front of me, but he does not and cannot make me sin. If I sin it is my own fault and I bear the responsibility for my sin, not Satan, not God, not my wife, and not my friends. We may be tempted, but we are not forced to sin. I thank God he does not leave us alone to our own demise. God gave us His son Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for sin. It is Christ who gives us strength to resist that which we wrongly desire.