Sin is something that we try to avoid every day of our lives, but sometimes we fail.  Just recently I lost my temper and yelled at my wife.  As a result, she was hurt and crying.  I didn’t want to do that.  My intention was not to hurt her or to make her cry, but that is exactly what I did.  Decades earlier, I promised God to take care of her, in good times and bad(always).  I am the one who is supposed to keep her from being hurt; I am the one that is supposed to keep her from being so sad that she cries.  Not only did I fail to keep those things from happening to her, but I was the one who caused them.

Knowing that I caused pain to my helper(Gen. 2:18) does not change anything.  It’s better than not knowing, but just knowing does not change anything.  I let her know that I was sorry, but that didn’t change what I had done.   I caused hurt; I caused pain.

I know exactly why I did what I did when I lashed out at her.  I could have told her why I did it.  I could have told her how she provoked my response, but I am solely responsible for my sin.  It is true that others should not put temptation in our way(Matt. 18:6-9), but that does not make us any less responsible when we give in to it.  There is no blaming others for our failings(when we give in to temptation and sin).

Until heaven, temptation will always be out there(I Pet. 5:8).  Our first goal must be resistance( I Pet. 5:9), and it has to be a continual process.  Temptation will not come to your doorstep once, then leave forever never to return again if you are successful one time in resisting.  It will come again and again.  It will try to wear us down, but instead of becoming worn down, we need to grow in strength.  We need to make certain that each time we overcome temptation that we get stronger, not weaker.  And we must never succumb to the feeling of confidence that we cannot fail, because once we think we cannot fail, we are assured of doing just that(failing).

I am fully aware that I have anger issues.  I can lose my temper immediately.  And because of this, it is something that I have worked on for decades.  For the most part, it must be working.  When I tell people that I am impatient or that I have problems losing my temper, most people say that I am one of the most patient people they know.  That should probably be reassuring, helping me to realize that I am being successful at being patient and not giving in to fits of anger.  But all of my “successes” do not mean that I have succeeded and overcome those issues in my life.  It doesn’t mean that I can relax and not worry about it anymore.  Clearly I DO have to worry about it, because if I do not, I will keep giving in to that temptation and I will keep hurting people.

When we give in to temptation and sin, we almost always hurt someone else.  When David succumbed to lust for Bathsheba, he hurt several people(I Sam. 11-12).  He hurt Bathsheba, as she committed adultery and sinned against her husband.  After David learned that she was pregnant, he had her husband(Uriah) killed in an attempt to cover up his sin of adultery.  Later, the child was born.  The innocent child died.  All this happened because of David’s sin.  David’s sin caused the death of two people.  Bathsheba became a widow and later lost her child.  This is what sin does; it causes pain to ourselves and other people.

When we give in to temptation and sin, we do not just sin against another person, we sin against God(Ps. 51:4), and this destroys our relationship with God.  Sin separates us from God(Isa. 59:1-3). Sin causes us to die spiritually(Rom. 6:23), which is what separation from God means.  Once this happens, we can have one of three basic responses to our sin.  First, we can allow it to overtake us.  We can give in to it and embrace like a long-lost loved one.  Second, we can become overwhelmed by our sin, and give in to despair.  This is what Judas did.  After betraying Jesus, Judas hanged himself(Matt. 27:3-10).  The third and final response is that we can repent.  After Peter denied knowing Jesus three times, he wept bitterly(Matt. 27:54-62).  He was overwhelmed with grief by what he had done, but he did not allow that grief to consume him.  Instead, after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter returned and continued to follow Jesus(John 21:15-19).  When we give in to sin, we need to do the same thing Peter did.  We need to turn back to Jesus and follow in His footsteps.