Stumble (πταίω)
Stumble conveys the act of tripping or striking against something, causing a person to lose footing.
Israel stumbled concerning the righteousness that is in Christ—not that they should fall, as though God had rejected Israel and given her promise to another; rather, through Israel’s stumble, salvation has come to the Gentiles to provoke Israel to zeal for her God (Romans 11:11).
Those who seek to live by the law must obey every aspect of the law. If they stumble in one point, they are guilty of the entire law (James 2:10). The law that says you are not to commit adultery also says you are not to senselessly slaughter. If you senselessly slaughter, you are a transgressor of the law (James 2:11).
A mature man knows how to control what he says, especially in regard to what he teaches others. One who does not stumble in words is truly mature (James 3:2).
God has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness. We are to be diligent to add to our faith virtue (moral excellence), to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge self-control. As we learn to control our appetites, we are to add patience, learning to bear up under circumstances as God works out what is good. To patience we then add godliness—manifesting the life of Christ in us. To godliness we add brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. When we are diligent in these things, we will not be barren nor unfruitful in the full experiential knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who is not diligent in this matter is short-sighted, forgetting that he has been cleansed from his sins. Therefore, let us be even more diligent to make our calling and election sure, for in doing so we will never stumble (2 Peter 1:5–10).