Desire, in its most basic form, is not sinful, as God built this feature into us. However, under the influence of human nature, inspired by the selfishness of the flesh and the anti-God hostility of satan's world, desire soon morphs into lust or inordinate desire. God forbids this in the tenth commandment, prohibiting coveting a neighbor's house, spouse, servants, animals, or anything that belongs to another. This commandment focuses on the internal attitude of intense desire for forbidden things, rather than the physical act of taking them, highlighting the unseen, inner wickedness that sows the seeds of societal breakdown. Sin starts within, out of the heart, spawning evil thoughts and actions that defile a person and destroy harmony among families, communities, and nations. Covetousness, as an internal sin, underlies the breaking of all commandments, setting up idols in the heart and placing objects or persons above a relationship with the true God. To counter this, one must hunger and thirst after righteousness, replacing evil desires with a zeal for godly ways, and strive to purify the heart to reflect God's nature. In the sanctification process, God works with us to prepare our hearts for eternal life, transforming our natures into the image of Jesus Christ.

Temptation begins the process to sin and ends in death. It is an appeal to think or do something contrary to God's law, drawing us away from truth, virtue, and God's standard of righteousness. Desires act as forces of attraction in the wrong direction, enticing us with the hope of reward or pleasure. These desires first attract our attention, persuading us to approach the forbidden thing, and then lure us to yield to the temptation. The closer one moves to a desired thing or the more one's interest grows, the greater the pull becomes. Satan, known as the tempter, uses temptation to entice us into sin. Illicit desire begets sin, which in turn spawns tremendous destruction and eventually death. Sin, once conceived through succumbed temptation, spawns death, suggesting a regression to a lower moral level. God plays no part in tempting us; rather, we are either drawn away by our own desires or enticed by satan. Resisting the temptations of satan, following Christ's example, causes him to flee from us. Temptation of itself is not sin; it becomes sin only when we enter into it, accept it, or submit to it. God does not expect us to resist temptation alone; He, through the mediation of our Savior Jesus Christ, understands our weaknesses and backs us with His omnipotent power to overcome temptations that lead to sin, if we stay close to Him spiritually by watching and praying.

Do you realize that if it is wrong to do a certain thing, it is wrong to harbor thoughts of that thing in your mind? Sin is often defined in a worldly way as thinking thoughts you ought not to be thinking about things you ought not to be doing while you are thinking that kind of thoughts. How does sin actually happen? Every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust, the desire in the mind, has conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. The temptation is in the mind. When you think about the thing that tempts you, letting your mind dwell on it, turning it over in your mind—whether it be a desire to go somewhere, to do something, or to have something you know is wrong—that thinking about it finally conceives and leads to action, breeding sin. You finally do the thing you kept thinking about, wanting to do. If you keep thinking about it, after a while you'll be unable to resist it. That's why so many struggles against sin are lost—you kept thinking about it, desiring it, wanting it. The way to prevent sin is to let God's Spirit fill the mind. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. The way to put a thing out of the mind is to put an opposite thought in the mind. Try using this method on yourself by opening your Bible and putting the study of some spiritual subject in your mind. Pray over it and ask God to help you. See how rapidly you begin to win the victory over temptation and sin.