Why I Hate Religion: 10 Reasons to Break Free from the Bondage of Religious Tradition by Creflo Dollar
Authors: Creflo Dollar
Ads: Link
situation like this, it is often easier to blame the devil for why you did what you did because it takes the pressure and responsibility off you to make the necessary adjustments. The devil, however, is not your problem. I’ve often said that the real enemy in your life is actually “inner me,” not Satan. An understanding of how sin unfolds in your life is necessary to put the brakes on lasciviousness.
Let me be clear—God is not the tempter—Satan is. But in the final analysis, the Bible doesn’t say that the devil is responsible for making you sin. Religion may promote a different idea, but it’s critical to stay with what the Word says on this subject, not tradition.
James 1:13–15 says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neithertempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
There are two key points to note in these Scriptures:
First, God does not tempt you to sin. I’ve heard people make Him out to be the bad guy, or they say that He will tempt you to see what you’ll do in a certain situation, but that’s simply not His M.O. While God may
allow
you to go through some things to try your faith, He is not the one bringing temptation to your doorstep. He is love, and Love wouldn’t do that to His children.
While God may
allow
you to go through some things to try your faith, He is not the one bringing temptation to your doorstep.
Second, the Bible says that a person is tempted when he or she is drawn away by his or her own lust. That means Satan uses the lust that is already in you by connecting it with his “bait.” For example, if you constantly feed sexually charged images and words to your spirit through your eyes and ears, a seed of lust will be planted in your spirit. As you continue meditating on those things, that seed will begin to take root in your heart and eventually become a reality in your life.
I used to have difficulty resisting the temptation to eat apple pie. I
love
apple pie, and before I got control over the desire to eat it, I could devour a whole pie in one sitting. That was a real temptation for me. My grandmother used to stock her refrigerator with pie just for me, and I got used to satisfying my sweet tooth as I grew older. The seed was already in me, so I would fall everytime. That seed was producing bad fruit in my life—my waistline was rapidly expanding, and I was dumping a lot of sugar in my system. I had to put the brakes on before my health started deteriorating. By renewing my mind in the area of taking care of my physical body, I was able to slow that desire down. Now I don’t have to eat a whole pie in order to satisfy that craving. Thank God for His Grace!
Interestingly enough, the devil didn’t make me eat those pies. He didn’t put a gun to my head and force me to drive to the store and buy all the Little Debbie pies on the shelf. I made that decision on my own, because I had been meditating on his suggestions.
Satan is watching you to see how you respond in situations like this. Your challenge may not be with apple pies, but whatever area it is, he will try to capitalize on it. You have to know how to play the game in order to win.
When he sees the fruit of what you have been meditating on manifest in the natural realm, all he has to do is send something or someone to trigger you to act on the predominant seed in your spirit. So when the cute little secretary walks by and propositions you for sex, you’ll be less likely to respond according to the Word of God. The problem wasn’t the devil, but the lust that you had allowed to be deposited in your heart. You thought about it, talked about it, and acted out on it, plain and simple.
Verse 15 says that lust gives birth to sin. You see, Satan isn’t so much concerned with getting you to sin,
Let me be clear—God is not the tempter—Satan is. But in the final analysis, the Bible doesn’t say that the devil is responsible for making you sin. Religion may promote a different idea, but it’s critical to stay with what the Word says on this subject, not tradition.
James 1:13–15 says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neithertempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
There are two key points to note in these Scriptures:
First, God does not tempt you to sin. I’ve heard people make Him out to be the bad guy, or they say that He will tempt you to see what you’ll do in a certain situation, but that’s simply not His M.O. While God may
allow
you to go through some things to try your faith, He is not the one bringing temptation to your doorstep. He is love, and Love wouldn’t do that to His children.
While God may
allow
you to go through some things to try your faith, He is not the one bringing temptation to your doorstep.
Second, the Bible says that a person is tempted when he or she is drawn away by his or her own lust. That means Satan uses the lust that is already in you by connecting it with his “bait.” For example, if you constantly feed sexually charged images and words to your spirit through your eyes and ears, a seed of lust will be planted in your spirit. As you continue meditating on those things, that seed will begin to take root in your heart and eventually become a reality in your life.
I used to have difficulty resisting the temptation to eat apple pie. I
love
apple pie, and before I got control over the desire to eat it, I could devour a whole pie in one sitting. That was a real temptation for me. My grandmother used to stock her refrigerator with pie just for me, and I got used to satisfying my sweet tooth as I grew older. The seed was already in me, so I would fall everytime. That seed was producing bad fruit in my life—my waistline was rapidly expanding, and I was dumping a lot of sugar in my system. I had to put the brakes on before my health started deteriorating. By renewing my mind in the area of taking care of my physical body, I was able to slow that desire down. Now I don’t have to eat a whole pie in order to satisfy that craving. Thank God for His Grace!
Interestingly enough, the devil didn’t make me eat those pies. He didn’t put a gun to my head and force me to drive to the store and buy all the Little Debbie pies on the shelf. I made that decision on my own, because I had been meditating on his suggestions.
Satan is watching you to see how you respond in situations like this. Your challenge may not be with apple pies, but whatever area it is, he will try to capitalize on it. You have to know how to play the game in order to win.
When he sees the fruit of what you have been meditating on manifest in the natural realm, all he has to do is send something or someone to trigger you to act on the predominant seed in your spirit. So when the cute little secretary walks by and propositions you for sex, you’ll be less likely to respond according to the Word of God. The problem wasn’t the devil, but the lust that you had allowed to be deposited in your heart. You thought about it, talked about it, and acted out on it, plain and simple.
Verse 15 says that lust gives birth to sin. You see, Satan isn’t so much concerned with getting you to sin,
Similar Books
