The Devil Made Me Do It?

Probing Proverbs 14:1 A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

We read this passage and shake our head…but fail to see how we ourselves do the same thing! The subject that needs to be addressed here is one we are all familiar with…Sin. There is no doubt that all of mankind has a personal adversary that hates them. He was the author of sin, and loves to hate those that God loves. From the beginning he has tried to infect, impact and guide humans into do the wrong thing. It started in the garden, but I believe one of the greatest “head’s up” is found shortly after the fall. Cain was jealous of his brother Abel because Abel brought the proper offering to the Lord and Cain had not! Cain became angry and God confronted him about it:

Genesis 4:6–7 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

I think this is such a great picture of how our enemy works using our own sin nature against us. Notice sin is spoken as if it has a life of it’s own…and in a sense this is true. What I believe is so important is how our enemy and sin are intertwined. Our Proverb brings to light the reality of how sin works.

Too many times individuals try to place all the accountability for their sin on Satan, which is very counter-productive! If we are honest, most times Satan does not have to work that hard to lead us to sin! “The Devil made me do it” really does not bring reality to our struggles and in fact will enable our sin nature to remain hidden. Yes the demonic realm is always at work behind the scenes, but we must face the truth that our own sin nature is the most active participant in our struggle with sin. James gives the best picture of this battle.

James 1:13–15 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

This Truth brings to light why accountable discipleship is so essential for all believers. 

God created us for community, not just the “fellowship” side, but also the “admonishment” side! We need to help each other with our battle with sin! Discipleship brings transparency, which will produce growth in our new nature, providing us strength                                                        to control the sin nature.

The So What: Who do you have in your life that will confront you about sin? Are you proactively seeking individuals that you can begin an accountability group with? Are you desiring spiritual growth s much that you are willing to become Transparent with some individuals?