There may be a tendency sometimes to minimize sin. We might think, “Everybody is doing this.” Or, “I’ve been so good—this one time is no big deal.” Or, “In the grand scheme of things, this is just one sin.” Or, “God knows that I’m not going to be perfect, so this is ok.”
I know that sin is tempting—that’s its very nature. The devil uses our “own desires” to “entice” us to sin (Jas. 1:14). And, to make us think “it’s no big deal,” the devil pulls out his secret weapon—deceit. That’s why, two verses later, James says, “Do not be deceived” (1:16).
Take a moment and let the words of Romans 8:3 sink into your soul. For the Christian living faithfully “in Christ,” there is “now no condemnation” (8:1). Wow! Christ has “made me free from the law of sin and death” (8:2). Wow again! How? “God…sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh” (8:3). Read those words over and over again, then ask, “Why would I want any single, solitary thing to do with sin?