You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes.
James 2:24
Contrary to popular belief, Jesus wasn’t half human and half divine; he was 100 percent of both. He was equal to God but “he did not take advantage of this equality” but as a human “he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:6–7). When you look at the life of Jesus and the commands of God’s Word, you can’t use your humanity as an excuse for not getting it right. Jesus never used his divinity to get through the hard parts of life. He didn’t overcome temptation in the desert or come down from the cross by virtue of his divine nature. When human trials came his way, he survived them as a human so that you would have not only a sympathetic God but also a perfect example of holiness on earth, human style.
The good news for you is this: the life of Jesus proves that you can do it too. You can overcome temptation; you can love God no matter what; you can resist the devil—because if Jesus could do it, so can you. Temptation is nothing new, and in resisting it you are not alone. Millions of others have come before you and resisted temptations as hard as if not harder than the ones you have in your life, so use that idea to strengthen yourself. Overcoming temptation can be done; it has been done. You are not powerless; you can say no to temptation. You just have to decide that serving God is your number one priority and that nothing else can trump that. There is no excuse for sin—not your weakness or the power of the tempter— nothing can be used as an excuse for giving in to temptation. So the next time temptation comes along, remind yourself that beating it can be done, that you can resist as you believe you can, and that God is right there with you. But if you do fall, quickly admit defeat, not blaming it on the temptation but accepting full responsibility as the guilty party. Then and only then will your sin be forgiven (see 1 John 1:9).