How can complacency lead me to sin?

James 4:17Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

To know what is right and then be complacent or unwilling to do it is sin. God takes your actions seriously. It is not enough to avoid doing wrong. God wants you to be proactive about doing what is right.

Revelation 3:15-16“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”

Complacency leads to indifference, which leads to idleness. To stand for nothing is to not care. And to not care is to be apathetic and complacent about the needs of others. Complacency stands in stark contrast to God’s command to love and care for those around us.

Judges 16:16-17She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it. Finally, Samson shared his secret with her. “My hair has never been cut,” he confessed, “for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else.”

Complacency makes you vulnerable to the strategies and temptation of Satan. Samson had become so complacent about his God-given responsibility as a leader that he gave in to Delilah’s nagging and told her the secret to his strength. He thought it wouldn’t matter; he thought everything would still be just fine. Samson’s complacency was a sin, and when he disobeyed God’s command to keep the source of his strength secret, he lost his strength and let down his entire nation.

1 Kings 11:1-3Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. . . . The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. . . . And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.

Proverbs 1:30-33They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes. For simpletons turn away from me—to death. Fools are destroyed by their own complacency. But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.

You will neglect God’s Word if you are complacent toward it. Then you will not know what it says and how it can help you avoid danger. Solomon’s complacency toward obeying God’s commands led him into sin, with devastating consequences.