I don't do what I want to do

.
I had some free time this afternoon and I really needed to work on my homework for my graduate class. I’m taking a statistics course and I really don’t like it. This is really interesting since I love math. This class is more theoretical than mathematical. If it were just running the numbers, I’d be OK. Alright – I’m already off my subject….which sort of ties directly to my subject ….

Every time I went to start my homework, I got distracted by something else. A phone call, an email, a job I had been putting off for a couple of weeks, scheduling a doctor’s appointment for my daughter, etc… I just kept finding other things to do in order not to do my homework. I knew what I needed to do and yet I didn’t do it.

Does that relate at all to our Christian lives? Do you ever know what you need to do and yet do you just not do it. Do you see ways you could serve but you just don’t do it? Do you see someone you should talk to but you just don’t do it? Do you know you should read your Bible but you just don’t do it?

In Romans Chapter 7, Paul talks about this situation.
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7: 15 – 20)

I don’t know about you but I can identify with Paul. My desire is to do good. I want to spend time in Bible Study and prayer. I want to be more courageous in sharing my faith. I want to be a more caring person. I want to be a better wife and mother. But when I try to do these things, sometimes I am just unable.

On the flip side, I don’t want to be impatient but I am – even with the people I love the most. I don’t want to gossip but it is so easy. I don’t want to be unforgiving but it is hard when someone hurts me deeply. Like Paul, I know I shouldn’t do these things but I do them anyway.

And then I began to think that even becoming aware of this struggle is one of the marks that I am maturing in my faith. We all need to be brutally honest with ourselves about who we are. We need to recognize the war that goes on inside us. The struggle is between the flesh and the spirit.

If you read on into chapter 8, Paul talks about the Holy Spirit and the strength and power he gives you. The Holy Spirit will help you do what is right. The Holy Spirit will help you get control over areas of your life. Some of the verses that stand out to me in chapter 8 are verse 1 which tells me that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Verse 28 which says, “ in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” Verse 37 talks about us being more than conquerors through him who loved us. And verse 39 which says that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Romans Ch 8 has to be one of the best chapters in the Bible for the believer. Click here to read it- you'll be encouraged.
..