Does God tempt us?
Over the years, I’ve talked to a lot of people who are convinced that God sends temptations to them to see if they’re faithful. You’d be surprised how many Christians believe some version of this, that God tempts us or puts tempting things and thoughts in our path. Does God tempt us? Nothing could be further from the truth.
So let’s jump into this, because as I said, believe it or not, a lot of Christians believe some version of this, that God tempts us.
I remember a good friend several years ago said to me she was sick and she said, “God sent this sickness to me to see if I will be faithful to Him.” I just rebelled against that with every fiber of my being. The book of James gives us a promise that God never tempts us.
God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. James 1:13
Does God tempt us to sin?
God already knows your heart. He doesn’t have to find out if you’re faithful or not. He knows the good that’s in your heart. Now that doesn’t mean that your faith isn’t put to the test sometimes. But let’s look at the difference between temptation and being tested. Does God tempt us? No! Temptation is an effort to get you to sin. That’s what the devil does.
But being tested is an effort to show you how strong you are and to make you stronger.
The reason you take a test in school is to show what you know and to learn from your mistakes and go forward, learn more. It is always Satan, the enemy, who tempts us by planting the seeds in our thinking of disobeying God. Or that our worth or happiness come from something or someone besides God. And there are a lot of variations of that.
But the temptation always comes from Satan based on some of the limitations or fears or doubts or secret desires we have in our heart.
When your faith is tested
Now let’s talk about what it means when your faith is tested.
Think about when the disciples were on a boat in the storm out on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat. God wasn’t tempting them. He wasn’t trying to get them to fail and cause the boat to sink. He didn’t send the storm to tempt them, to get them to fail and all drown in a storm.
But the storm was an opportunity for them to put their faith to the test. Well, they didn’t pass with flying colors. They did have enough faith to wake Jesus up and ask him to help them.
But then he rebuked their lack of faith in their own ability to turn directly to God for help. He was like saying, “Hey, where’s your faith? Why couldn’t you pray and have this storm go away?”
He was trying to show them they could have done it, but at least they turned to him for help. And that was one point in their favor.
But then think of when Jesus sent these same disciples out to preach and heal. He wasn’t tempting them or trying to get them to doubt their abilities. He was giving them an opportunity to test their faith, so to speak, to put it into practice to show what they did have. And they did. They passed that test, if you want to call it that, with flying colors that came back and had healed people and had preached to people and shared the good news about the kingdom of Heaven.
God knows what’s in your heart
Now you may see all the things in your heart that don’t please God, but God sees way beyond that. He sees all the good in your heart. When you feel tempted, it is never God who tempts you. He’s not trying to get you to sin to see if you’re faithful. God doesn’t need to tempt you to find out if you’re faithful. As I said, he already knows what’s in your heart. But he does give you opportunities to practice your faith, to grow stronger.
So when you’re tempted to sin, it’s never God doing that. God is right there showing you how to trust in and obey him and put your faith into practice. Now, these are just a few ideas I would love to hear from you. How you face temptations and how God has made you stronger by giving you opportunities to put your faith into practice.
Does God tempt us? Of course not.
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by learning to think, pray, and love like Jesus. Contact him here.
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