Trust God’s Goodness

Introduction

We serve a mighty God. The One who spoke the heavens and the earth into being. The One who gives us breath each morning, provides for our needs, and pours out blessings far more than we deserve. He is faithful, powerful, and good. And His greatest gift to us is Jesus Christ—God’s Son, who came to this world, died for our sins, and rose again so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life.

Through faith in Jesus, we are made new. We have peace with God. We have hope beyond this life, and the promise of a home in heaven where there will be no more pain, no more tears, no more struggle.

But while we hold on to those promises, we’re still living here in a broken, sinful world. Life is not easy. We still face trouble.

It seems like we are always surrounded by bad news. Just this past month, we’ve seen violence break out in our nation—leaders gunned down in public, leaving people shaken and wondering if anywhere is safe. We’ve watched as storms and hurricanes formed, threatening homes and livelihoods across the South and Caribbean. Overseas, earthquakes have leveled towns and taken lives. And closer to home, families are wrestling with health crises, whether it’s cancer, chronic illness, or sudden medical emergencies that change everything overnight.

The headlines may change, but the theme feels the same: violence, disaster, and suffering are never far away. And then there’s what’s happening in our own lives—financial strain, broken relationships, struggles we carry silently. The truth is: life is full of trials.

We are going to face trials, but as believers James has told us we can have joy in the trials because of the hope that we have in Christ. As we keep the our faith, we grow in perseverance and faith in God. (James 1:2-8)

Intro to today:

When we look around at the world, it’s clear—trials and temptations are not rare interruptions; they’re part of life in a broken world. But that’s nothing new. God’s people have always faced hardship, suffering, and pressure to give up hope.

That’s the very reason James wrote his letter. James, the half-brother of Jesus, didn’t believe in Him at first. But when the risen Christ appeared to him, everything changed. From that moment, James devoted his life to serving and preaching Jesus. And now he’s writing to Christians who had been scattered from Jerusalem—people uprooted from their homes, searching for work, and living in places that were often hostile to their faith.

They were in the middle of trials. And James tells them in chapter 1, verses 2–8, that trials are going to happen. We know that too, don’t we? As we live in this world, we all go through trials. Some of you may be walking through one right now. But James says in verse 2 that we should face our trials with joy because God is still in control. Trials are a time to keep our eyes on Him, and as we do, our faith grows stronger and lasting.

Trials will come. But for those of us who love Jesus, we can have joy and hope as we trust in God. And with every trial, temptation will follow close behind, the temptation to disobey God, to live our way instead of His. And that’s what I want us to look at together tonight.

Our text tonight is James 1:13–18. And in these verses James talks about something every single one of us deals with—temptation.

Temptation is important to understand, because none of us are exempt from it. Every one of us will be tempted to sin against God. And what is sin? It’s disobedience to God. Scripture makes it clear: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Even after we come to know Jesus as Savior, temptation doesn’t disappear. The pull of sin is still there. The difference is, in Christ, we are no longer slaves to it—we can overcome it by trusting God. That’s exactly what James addresses here.

So tonight we’re going to walk through James 1:13–18 together. And here’s the main truth I want us to see: When we trust God’s goodness, temptation loses its power.

We’ll look at that truth by breaking the passage into three parts:

The Source of Temptation

The Outcome of Sin

The Goodness of God

When we trust God’s goodness; temptation loses its power.

Temptations Source (James 1:13-14)

James 1:13

James says when tempted, this means we will be tempted. Tempted has this meaning of drawn away from what is good. Being drawn away from obedience to God. When we are tempted to be disobedient to God, we cant say God is causing me to do this, because God is holy, which means he cant sin and since he cant sin he cannot be tempted. God is not the one that causes our temptation. God may test us in the trial but he never tempts us.

Verse 12 flows to 13. His concern, rather, is to help his readers resist the temptation that comes along with the trial. For every trial brings temptation. Financial difficulty can tempt us to question God’s providence in our lives. The death of a loved one can tempt us to question God’s love for us. The suffering of the righteous poor and the ease of the wicked rich can tempt us to question God’s justice, or even his existence. Thus testing almost always includes temptation, and temptation is itself a test

* Persevering under the trial” (v. 12) demands that we overcome these kinds of temptations.

· 22:1 - God tested Abraham” - when he ordered him to sacrifice his son Isaac

· He tested Israel by leaving the people surrounded by pagan nations

God may test through trials as James talked about in verse 2, he will never tempt us. God does not “tempt” because he cannot be “tempted”. Temptation here is an impulse to sin. God will never call us to sin.

Where does temptation come from? What is temptations source?

James 1:14

the responsibility for temptation and sin squarely on the shoulders of each human being

* James purpose here is to highlight individual responsibility for sin.

Temptation comes from us as humans. Temptation comes from our desires and wants. The call to rebel against God comes from within us. We are lured away from God by our wants and desires. James is using the imagery of fishing here.

Anyone here like to fish? What do you do in fishing? You take bait, put it on a hook, drop it in the water and if you are using live bait it dances and moves in front of the fish. Why do we use live bait that moves, and smells? To try to get the fish to bite. To try to get the fish to see something they want and take it. That’s what sin is in our life.

Satan uses all kinds of things to entice us to go against God. He uses all kinds of things to get us to question God. Our desires and wants is a big tool that he uses. The temptation to sin comes from our hearts. Naturally we want to sin.

As believers in Christ, because of Jesus we have been freed from slavery of sin, but we haven't completely lost the taste for sin. The desire remains. Our old self, before we came to know Christ is looking for an excuse to move back into sinfulness. Sometimes, we will use trials as that excuse to disobey God instead of to trust Him at a deeper level.

James tells us that the desire to sin comes from us, that is who we naturally are, but in Christ we are a new creation and our minds are being renewed but on this side of eternity we will always struggle with temptation to disobey God.

in the midst of hard times, we feel the pull to disobey God, to be unfaithful, to move away from Him. Where does that temptation come from? Here James reveals the answer: The call is coming from inside our own house! In other words, we are lured away from God in the midst of trials by our own desires. On one level, we simply want to sin.

So what does this mean for us? If temptation doesn’t come from God, but from our own sinful desires, then we need to stop playing the blame game. How often do we say things like, “Well, that’s just how I am” … or “If they hadn’t said that, I wouldn’t have reacted this way” … or even “God made me this way, so it must not be that bad”? James is saying—no. The responsibility for temptation lies right here in our own hearts.

That means the first step to overcoming temptation is honesty. We have to admit: “This pull toward sin is coming from me.” It’s my desires, my weakness, my flesh. Until I own it, I’ll never fight it.

Second, it means we need to pay attention to our desires before they grow into action. Nobody wakes up one day and suddenly commits a major sin. It starts small—resentment, envy, lust, selfishness. Just like a fish being lured to the bait, we start nibbling. If we don’t cut it off at the desire stage, eventually it leads to the bite.

In temptation to sin: Don’t excuse it—name it for what it is. Then ask God’s Spirit to strengthen you to want His will more than your own.

Temptation rises from within, but the Spirit within us is stronger. He gives us power to say “no” when our flesh cries “yes.”

Sins Outcome (James 1:15)

but what happens when we give into temptation? When we give into temptation we sin against God. Sin leads to death.

James 1:15

James made it clear that temptation to sin always comes from within ourselves. It's never God's fault. No matter how terrible our circumstances are, the desire to sin is still ours. We are tempting ourselves to sin.

Here James warns us of the consequence of giving into our desire, which is falling into sin. When we say "yes" to the desire to do what we want, instead of trusting God and obeying Him, sin is born. Then sin grows up and produces death. Sin always leads to death. For those who are not in Christ—who have not accepted God's free gift of forgiveness of sin, who have not been born again to a new life—that death is permanent and eternal. But even for Christians, sin brings deadly consequences.

Sin if we do not repent hurts our relationship with God, the Biblical book of Hebrews says as believers we cannot deliberately keep on sinning" after knowing the truth risk a fearful expectation of judgment, while 1 John 3:9 suggests that those truly "born of God" cannot continue to sin.

When we know Jesus when we know something is sinful we cannot allow our desires to to tempt us so much that we go against what God wants us to do. That is sin and sin always hurts are relationship with God. When we realize that we have sinned against God we must repeat, repentance  is a change of heart that results in a change of action. If we continue to live in sin it hurts our relationship with God, and shows that our lives haven’t truly be changed by the gospel of Jesus. In life we will be tempted, the temptation isn’t sin, according to James we sin when we give into temptation. My challenge to you this evening is flee from sin. Don’t let your flesh  overtake your faith, If you find sin in your life run from it and run to Jesus. Sin leads to death, it leads to hurting our relationship with God.

James makes it clear—temptation itself is not sin. The danger comes when we give in and act on that temptation. But then you might wonder: didn’t Jesus say in Matthew 5:28 that “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”? At first that can sound like temptation and sin are the same thing. But Jesus and James are not contradicting each other—they are describing different stages of the same process.

James (James 1:13–15) is talking about temptation itself—the pull or desire that arises in our hearts. He’s clear: the presence of temptation is not sin. The sin happens when we consent to it, when desire drags us away and we act on it (even in our hearts).

Jesus (Matthew 5:28) is pressing deeper into what it means to “act on it.” He’s not saying the first fleeting thought of lust is automatically sin. He’s saying when we look with lust—when we choose to indulge the thought, feed it, dwell on it—that is already sin, even if no outward action follows.

Put together, here’s the picture:

A thought or desire may arise (temptation). That alone isn’t sin.

But when we welcome it, linger on it, or let it take root in our hearts, that’s giving in—and that’s what Jesus calls sin.

what we think about and allow our heart to rest on is based on choice

We may not be able to control passing thoughts or feelings, but we certainly do decide where our heart and mind will rest.

What we do with temptation in the moment really matters. We may not be able to stop the first thought or feeling, but we can choose whether to let it stay. Don’t give sinful desires a place to rest in your heart—cut them off quickly and turn your focus back to God. When lust creeps in, don’t entertain it—pray and redirect your mind to what is pure. When greed or anger rises, replace it with generosity or patience. And if you do fall, repent immediately—don’t let sin linger. The Spirit of God lives in us, and He gives us power to say “no” to sin and “yes” to life. Sin promises life but always delivers death, while trusting God’s goodness always leads to life.If you know Jesus and you’ve given in to temptation, don’t stay stuck in guilt or shame. James reminds us that sin brings death, but the gospel reminds us that Jesus brings life. The right response is repentance—not just feeling sorry, but turning back to God with a changed heart that leads to changed actions. Confess your sin honestly before Him, ask for forgiveness, and take steps to walk differently. The enemy wants you to believe that failure defines you, but in Christ you are forgiven and set free. Run to Jesus, not away from Him. The cross means there is always grace, but grace is never permission to keep living in sin. Repent, receive His forgiveness, and move forward in obedience.

Tempations sourc is our derie, if we give in it hurts our realtionship with God, butJames doesn’t stop with warning about sin; he points us to God’s goodness.

God’s Goodness (James 1:16-18)

James makes it crystal clear: God is not the source of temptation or evil. He cannot be tempted, and He does not tempt anyone. Instead, He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. When we face temptation, it’s easy to believe the lie that pursuing our desires will bring life, happiness, or fulfillment—but Scripture reminds us that true goodness always comes from God, not from sin or from our own efforts.

James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” Here, James points to God’s constancy. Unlike our desires, which shift and deceive, God’s goodness is steady and unchanging. Everything He gives is perfect and life-giving—including the gift of the new birth. Verse 18 says, “Of His own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” Salvation, our spiritual life, is not earned by our obedience; it is God’s gracious initiative. He brings us into new life so that we might bear fruit for His glory.

We see this same truth throughout Scripture. In John 10:10, Jesus contrasts His work with Satan’s: “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” God’s gifts bring life, healing, hope, and joy—everything sin promises but cannot deliver. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” When we experience God’s goodness, we see that following Him is infinitely better than following our sinful desires.

Biblical Examples of God’s Goodness:

Creation: God gave the world and everything in it for His glory and for our good (Genesis 1:31).

Provision for Israel: He fed His people in the wilderness with manna and water from the rock (Exodus 16–17).

Deliverance: God rescued Daniel from the lions’ den (Daniel 6) and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace (Daniel 3).

Salvation through Jesus: The greatest gift of all—God gave His Son so we might have eternal life (John 3:16).

Every one of these shows that God’s gifts are real, life-giving, and trustworthy. Satan may promise satisfaction, but only God delivers lasting life and goodness.

When temptation comes, remember this: God’s goodness is constant and real. His gifts—peace, joy, forgiveness, salvation—are available right now. Instead of giving in to fleeting desires, focus on the source of true life. Remind yourself that God is faithful, His promises are sure, and His gifts far outweigh the temporary pleasures sin offers. By trusting in His goodness, temptation loses its power over you.