Mike Focht 5/8/2026
Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
James 1:12
Everyone who wants to endure temptation should memorize this wonderful promise. James wants to give the embattled follower of Christ something solid to hold onto. He gives us two important things to know about godly endurance.
First, endurance grows by recognizing the blessings of Christ.
The Lord’s promise of the crown of life matters to our endurance. Part of our enduring temptation will be directly related to our thoughts of God’s approval and promised reward. We would find our endurance in the moment of temptation stronger if we attached more of our time, money, effort, thought, and praise to the eternal. Far too often, we give in to temptation because our minds are filled with thoughts about what God hasn’t promised or hasn’t given. Worldly treasures and lives take up too much space in our hearts! It is hard to turn down what we are constantly thinking about not having.
In the heat of our temptation, when lusts make time slow down so that we can feel its texture, our desired sin seems so tangible and eternal treasures seem like fairy tales. In the moment of temptation, the last thing Satan wants is for us to think about life in eternity. Satan wants us focused on the here and now. We know that our feelings will be different the next instant or morning, and that we will feel condemned and guilty by giving in to temptation, but the battle of the moment is so hard to endure! We need a greater weight on the other side of the moment, and that weight is related to eternal things.
Begin investing your life in eternal things before and during temptation. Eternal crowns will be preventative maintenance and emergency intervention. In contrast to what the devil wants, James exhorts us to think ahead. If I endure this temptation now, how will I feel when I stand before the judgment seat of Christ and have Jesus’ approval? How will I feel when I join the company of saints who have endured greater hardships through the ages? How will I feel when Jesus Christ places a crown of life upon my head?
Enduring temptation reveals my love for all that Jesus loves. To endure the moment, think beyond present evil desires to the day that you step through the thin veil of mortality, and enter the place where all evil is gone, and all endurance is over. Transform your momentary temptations into eternal crowns by faith in the promise of Jesus Christ.
Second, we endure temptation by recognizing our endurance is pleasing to God!
Endurance is an act of love. It is very easy to become weary in our susceptibility to sin. Every Christian who wants to love God with all their heart will come to the place where they are tired and frustrated with their desires for sinful things. They want God, but they also want some portion of what is displeasing to God. The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
In that conflict, it is very easy to believe that God is also weary with us. How could He not be? We are tired of ourselves! But that is not what James is telling us. James is encouraging endurance as an act of love to God. Every moment of temptation is not a sin. It is an opportunity to prove our love and loyalty to our Savior. Christ endured for us and then was received into glory, and this too is our moment to endure with Him, and then be received into glory as well. He gave His life as an act of love to the Father. We surrender our lives as an act of love to Him.
God is not displeased when we bring our wandering thoughts captive to Him, or when we turn our eyes from evil, or when we remove conveniences to make no provision for the lusts of our flesh, or when we go home a different way, or befriend a new company of people, or when we humbly confess our faults, or when we literally turn and flee from temptation like Joseph of old.
When we endure in all the various ways we are called to endure, God is so very pleased! More pleased than we can imagine. So pleased, in fact, that only in eternity will He be able to rightly display His approval for our smallest and weakest acts of love. Allow me to encourage you again, endure! Here and now is our one chance to endure for our Savior’s sake. You might be tired of fighting, but God is not tired of storing up heavenly riches for those who prove their love to Him in this sin-sick world.
What type of person is it that endures? Those who love Him. My endurance in the time of temptation will grow in proportion to my love of Jesus Christ. Do I love Jesus’ approval? Do I love His promises of reward? Do I love the glory of His eternal home? Do I love my Savior, or do I love myself? Our love for Jesus Christ includes our moments of temptation. Just because I am tempted doesn’t mean we don’t love Jesus Christ. What we do in our moments of temptation does reveal something of our love for Christ.