Have you ever sinned and wondered afterward, "How in the world did I get here?"  That is a common thing with a lot of believers - and honestly - too common to me to be too comfortable with it.  But that kind of moment is one where we need wisdom.  The wisdom we need is an understanding of the very question we've asked.  How did we get there?  If we don't know at the moment - we need to know.  The reason we need to know is because unless we know how we got to a point of sin, we will probably not stop sinning in this way.  The best way to deal with this is to know the steps to how we got there.  Let me share something with you that is very helpful to me when I  struggle and fall into sin occasionally.  I call it a "post-mortem" analysis of my sin.

James says this to us, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." James 1:13-15

It is good to take a closer look at the day or days leading up to your sin.  What I found was that often I was either being set up or was setting myself up for a fall.  The first thing James tells us is that we are NOT being tempted by God.  Too often we think, "God, why did You do this to me?  Why did you have this temptation come my way?"  We think God is responsible for our circumstances - at least these that surround sinning.  God is most definitely Sovereign over all things - BUT - He does not tempt us.  Not blaming God for our problems is a huge first step towards freedom.

James does mention where all this comes from in life.  He says that we are "tempted by lust" and then when we don't respond to it properly we are "carried away" by it.  First comes temptation - from which I must flee!  Lust here is not referring to sexual sin exclusively.  It is referring to a strong desire that arises out of our self-centered and self-honoring fallen nature.   If I find myself not responding and reacting to these intense fleshly desires immediately. (which I usually did not in this process) my heart would begin hardening to God, to His Word, and to the promptings and warnings of the Holy Spirit.  I was not being responsive to Jesus.  Left unchecked, these strong desires would grow and I would find myself being "carried away by lust."  Soon I would find that not only was I being tempted - but because I was "lingering" - I soon was carried away by my lust into sin.  

Let me ask you something at this point.  Ever have one of those times when you think, "Man it was like I was unable to stop - like I was being carried away!  Well - unfortunately - that was exactly what was happening.  You did not stop sin at the point of your own desires being perverted from the truth.  Therefore they became so strong that you felt like you could not resist.  It was like someone else was controlling you.  That is the power of sin and lust.  It is powerful - and will dominate you if you do not resist early and often.  At this point you are having lust conceive in your heart - and that conception is about to give birth to sin.   

The next step is to give birth to sin.  The strong desire, left unchallenged, has now dominated our minds and our actions.  This means we are about to sin - to choose to disobey God - to choose to disregard Scripture - even to choose to silence the protest of our conscience as we act out in a way that is in defiance to God's standards and commands.  The result of this will be death.  Spiritually we will feel dead.  There will be a grieving of the Holy Spirit and a deadening of our ability to discern what God desires.  Rather than being led by the Spirit - we are allowing ourselves to be led by the flesh.  The Spirit's fire will be doused within us - we may even feel things like a lack of desire for the Word - an aversion to prayer - and plenty of condemnation.  Yeah - pretty much plenty of death is available to us at this point in our sinful escapade.  

A "post-mortem" analysis of sin asks the following types of questions.  

1. What was I allowing myself to linger over in what I saw, what I thought, what I considered, or even what I fantasized about?"  
   
2. What was I doing that led up to the strong desires that came upon me?
3. Was I watching, listening, participating in anything that weakened my desire for God prior to sinning?
4. Was I neglecting time in the Word, prayer, fellowship prior to the sin?  (One of the things that I see most in my post-mortem looks - is that I was neglecting either my quiet time - or prayer.
5. Was there any kind of incident where I became angry, bitter, or unforgiving toward someone?
6. What kind of thoughts were going through my head?  Did I seek to combat them with Scripture?
7. Was there any direct link between the temptation - and anything I've done in the last 24 hours?

When we do this, we will most likely find and identify the things that led up to our sin.  We will see things like television shows or movies that led to lustful thoughts.  We may find that we were wandering from God for days before this thing hit.  We will often find that our minds were definitely NOT being renewed with the Word.  And one other "usual culprit" will be bitterness and unforgiveness - especially when it is toward a brother or sister in Christ - or a close family member.   

The last step in this "post-mortem" analysis is to identify the activities or choices made that led to sin.  But that will not be enough.  We need to deal with these things.  There is a very simple truth here we must grasp.  We CANNOT do these things and remain pure.  We MUST address these things with the Word and with repentance and a purpose to act differently in the future.  This will be the way to turn a sinful situation into one that will not only instruct us - but will in large measure - protect us from things that will lead us into sin in the future.  It will also help us to greatly lesson the areas where we feel that when we take a small step - we are gone - because sin has such power over us so quickly.  Think of it as CSI - Jesus.  The Lord takes apart the crime scene (here a sin-scene) and examines it to show us all the evidence that points to us acting in ways that are going to end up embracing sin and ungodliness.  That will be more valuable to us than gold!

     This morning I was reading in my quiet time in the book of Psalms.  Today’s chapter was Psalm 101.  As I read this psalm of David, I was so blessed because this Psalm deals with how a father should walk within his own home.  David begins the psalm with a statement of commitment to the Lord.  He says, “I will give heed to the blameless way.”  Here he is declaring that his life is dedicated to living before God blamelessly and holy.  Then he makes his second declaration as he says, “I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.”  The two words “integrity” and “blameless” are interchangeable in Hebrew.  Thus, as David makes his commitment before God, it is one that states that he wants to walk blameless and in the highest integrity possible.  But how does one do this?  The rest of this Psalm explains this to us as we see the other commitments that come with a desire to walk in one’s house in integrity and blamelessness.  What I’d like to do for a few weeks is to look at the commitments that are necessary for a man of God to be what God desires for him to be within his home. 

     The first commitment is what I mentioned above.  A man of God needs to commit to a life of integrity within the home.  He needs to come to God and ask the Lord to work in his heart so that he is blameless   before the Lord and before his wife and children.  But who defines this “walk of integrity?“  That is answered by David in the statement he makes immediately after making this commitment.  After he says that he will give heed to the blameless way he makes a request.  That request is this, “When will You come to me?”  In saying this, David is saying two things.  First, he is committing to “giving heed” to the blameless way.  The word here speaks of discernment that is gained from listening to another.  Therefore what David commits to is to listen to someone.  This one he listens to will help him discern how to walk in life—blamelessly.  Who is this person?  David makes that clear to us when he says, “When will You come to me?”  The “You” in this verse is Jehovah God.

     To be a man of integrity and blamelessness is to be a man who daily listens to God.  To be the godly man of integrity in your home, you will need to meet with God regularly.  As you fellowship with God you will be taught how to discern between what is good and what is evil.  You will know the right way to walk—and be warned against paths that will hinder you.  They are the paths filled with roots and stumbling blocks that trip you up.  Men, spend time with God each day—seeking Him—reading His Word—talking with Him so that you begin to learn the way of integrity.  This will help you be the man of integrity your family needs within your home.  As you face the trials, temptations, and difficult decisions to be that man—may your request each day be this, “Lord, when will You come to me, teach me, strengthen me, guide me, and enable me to be a blameless man?”