In my last post, I talked about how Satan loves to deceive us into believing sins are okay and there is nothing wrong with them. I related some of the sins he convinced me were ok. How do we know when the Evil One is influencing our decisions and leading us to sin? How do we determine what is right and wrong?

Here’s what I learned about temptation, there is usually a pleasure attached to it. In my case, I was tempted into committing adultery by the promise that the sex would feel good, and it did at least until I was consumed by guilt. With my drinking, it was because getting drunk felt good and made the guilt disappear. Until the next day anyway.

This also opens up another point for discussion, why does God make all the things that bring us pleasure sins? Well, he doesn’t. There is nothing wrong with sex when it is for the right reasons. Even social drinking is okay as long as it isn’t excessive. It is when it becomes destructive that it is a problem. For example, when you are having sex for the wrong reason.

I know this is a common theme throughout my posts but in today’s world, we are surrounded by temptation. Our godless society, a society that I believe has been thoroughly infiltrated by Satan, puts it in front of us in so many ways. You can’t get away from it. Those who don’t believe in God try to convince us more and more every day He doesn’t exist. They tell us there is no right or wrong it’s all relative. They say every situation is different.

But every situation is not different. As I said in my previous post, there are only two options—right or wrong. There is no middle ground, no grey area. The devil convinced me that my sins were okay. At first, they were just small sins. And that’s how he gets you. You sin the first time and nothing seems to change so you do it again. Each time it’s easier and the sins get bigger and more powerful.

How do we stop this from happening? I’ll address this in my next post. I remember thinking, and also having others tell me this, God is the one who tempts as a test. This is not true, God doesn’t, nor will He ever tempt us. Even Satan doesn’t really cause us to sin, it is our choice. Satan can’t force us to sin, we have to agree and do it willingly.

This is so well stated in James:

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one; but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), Jas 1:13–14.