Do I Have to Do What I Don't Want to Do?

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 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....What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:14-18, 24-25





Do you ever feel as if you can't do anything right? Are there those days when it seems like some evil ogre has taken over your body and you snap at everyone or stomp on the feelings of those you love?

Perhaps it's just me, but like the Apostle Paul, I struggle with sin. Things I know I'm supposed to do...supposed to say...supposed to display, often those are the things that seem hardest to do.

In this passage, however, I am reminded that the reason I experience these moments of not doing what I want to do, is that sin lives within me.

Though I am a follower of Christ, I am still a part of the human race - a fallen, sinful, sin-filled race, and even still, there are times my old self wants to revert back to my sinful self.

The good news, is that I don't have to stay there! Because of what Jesus did for me (and you) on the cross, I am no longer a slave to sin. He has set me free and now the Holy Spirit indwells within me and gives me the power to overcome those temptations to sin.

So, next time I feel an urge to utter an unkind word, think an impure thought, lash out in an unkind way, I must remember that I have a choice. I do not have to comply to that sinful urge, but can freely choose to tap into God's power which helps me live victorious!

Blessings to you today.

Kristi

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