St. James highlights the three sources of temptation in
our lives. First is from ourselves:
“Where do the wars and where do the
conflicts among you come from?
Is
it not from your passions that make war within your members?” Each of us, thanks to the original
fall, has a tendency to sin—concupiscence.
The
second is from the world: “Do you not
know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a
lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” If we just go with the flow of our
society we head to destruction. We
end up with a destructive worldview, destructive morality and destructive
lives.
The
third is from the devil and evil.
Satan wants nothing more than to wreak havoc in our lives and tempt us
to choose anything else but God.
Yet as I mentioned last week, the devil hates resolute souls. James makes this point clear: “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.”
While
we face an interior battle against these three forms of temptation, part of our
victory lies in getting outside of ourselves. Really, love is the answer to any temptation and striving
for love of God and neighbor is the best way to stand fast in moments of
temptation.
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