Learning What Not to Do From the Life of Eve

Today let’s consider the life of Eve and learn what not to do in some key areas of life. 

Have you ever stopped to think about Eve? Reading the account of her life in the first chapters of Genesis, we find that Eve walked with God and sensed a presence of God that we will never experience in the same way, here on Earth. 

No one in history has ever had the highs and lows that Eve had. From a sinless paradise of Eden to a barren exile outside the garden, she knew the consequences of sin. She went from a life of perfection and communion with God and a perfect relationship with her husband to a place of naked shame being caught in the act of sin. She went from perfect peace to unexplainable pain as she experienced the death of one of her sons at the hands of her other son. Eve knew both perfection and pain, and she had to live with her mistake for the rest of her life. 

No one in history has ever had the highs and lows that Eve had. From a sinless paradise of Eden to a barren exile outside the garden, she knew the consequences of sin.

Many of us know her story and know that when she was tempted by Satan, who was masquerading as a serpent. We know she lost paradise because of one bad decision. And we know that her choices affected not only her family but all of mankind. 

God has included her story in the Bible so we know what not to do! I recently read her story again and three things popped out to me that we must be careful to avoid. 

First, Eve allowed herself to go to an unsafe place even though she knew better. The Lord told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, so why even hang out close to it? But here in Genesis 3:1-6, we learn that she’s talking with the serpent about it, and she’s close enough that she sees it. Verse 6 says that she “saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes (NKJV).” What would have happened if Eve never even went close enough to look at the tree? What things in our lives are we getting too close to, to stay safe from temptation? I know that I have to stay far away from certain platforms and entertainment in order not to sin. I also know that there are certain social gatherings that I must avoid. What is the Holy Spirit telling you that you are getting too close to in your life?  

Secondly, Eve exaggerated. In Genesis 3:2, while she is speaking with the serpent, she tells him that God had said that they can’t eat from the tree in the midst of the garden, but she goes on to say that He had said, “Nor shall you touch it (NKJV).” But that’s not what God told Adam in Genesis chapter 2. Can’t you just hear Eve? “We can’t eat from it, and we can’t even touch it!”

I can just imagine her saying that while rolling her eyes and using big hand gestures. Exaggeration is so dangerous. I have been convicted that exaggeration is truly a lie. A partial truth is a lie, and that is exactly what exaggeration is. Eve exaggerated and added to what God really said. We must be so careful not to exaggerate when we are relaying what someone said or what truly happened in our lives. Look at the dangerous situation it got Eve into, a place of compromise and a bad decision. 

Third, after Eve does the unthinkable and she does eat that fruit, and gives some to her husband, we see another action that we must avoid. Eve did not repent. We all, just like Eve, will sin, and what comes after we do so is so very important. For life to go on after sin, after we make a big mistake, there is one necessary thing, and that is true godly repentance. There is a difference between true godly repentance and worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow says, “Oops, I got caught, and so I’m sorry because I got caught.” But true godly repentance is the reality that I have offended God. 

In Genesis 3:13 the Lord asks Eve a question. He was giving her the chance to come clean and to confess her part in this horrible situation. But she pointed the blame on the serpent. Unfortunately, the serpent’s guilt in this did not justify her sinning. James 1:14 stands as a reminder that whenever we sin, it is because we are drawn away by our own lusts. 

It states, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed (NKJV). So while others might have had a part in our sin, we ultimately decided to disobey God, and we are responsible. The responsibility for the act of the deed lies with the sinner, and we are responsible to repent and confess our sins to God. He already knows exactly what happened, right?  

When we do mess up and sin, we need to repent and turn away from that sin, casting our sins on Jesus, who paid for them all on the cross.

Ok, I hope you’ve stuck with me today. Examining the life of Eve is heavy stuff! And I hope you aren’t discouraged but instead compelled to stay far away from temptation and to never exaggerate. And most of all, I hope that we all can remember that when we do mess up and sin, we need to repent and turn away from that sin, casting our sins on Jesus, who paid for them all on the cross.