Skip to main content

Who's Fighting for Me?

It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin. So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free. (Romans 7:21-25)

A fact of life...that I want to do what is right...but I choose what is wrong. Sound like anybody else's life story? There is a constant struggle of the 'will', isn't there? We find ourselves pulled this way and that, all the while wanting to go just one way - the right way. We actually hear this still small voice within telling us to do right, but then we listen to the louder voice within (our sinful nature) telling us to do something that will 'please' our sinful nature. The struggle is real, and it is constant for some, infrequent for others.

The multitude of times we have given into our sinful nature is probably too innumerable for any of us to list, but the truth of the matter is that we are likely choosing to respond to our sinful nature less and less the longer we are serving Jesus. How does that happen? There is a subtle, but consistent shift in our focus. We begin to see how much our sinful nature is pulling us 'off-center' in life and we focus more on what will keep us 'on-center'. How? Through prayer, time in the Word, good teaching, and solid relationships that build in accountability.

The one who struggles with these conflicting desires really needs to remember that our freedom isn't a 'wish' or a 'dream' - it is an accomplished fact through Christ Jesus. We are 'set free', not by our own willpower, but by the 'will of God' resident within us in Christ Jesus. That still small voice that is telling us to do 'right' isn't just a whim. It is the very voice of his Spirit within - helping us to choose the things that will honor him, in turn bringing honor to our lives. 

Freedom isn't fought for in our own strength or self-effort. It is accomplished in Christ Jesus, but we need to 'enforce' that freedom in our lives. When those taunting and 'pulling' voices want us to go one way, and we clearly hear it is the other way we are to choose, we need to rise up in the power of Christ to resist. That may look a little like us taking a moment to pray because prayer drives back the forces of wickedness. That may take on the form of us recounting a scripture we have read earlier in the day because the Word of God causes the devil to flee. Remember, we are given the tools to overcome sin's pull, we just need to use them when the struggle gets real! Just sayin!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What did obedience cost Mary and Joseph?

As we have looked at the birth of Christ, we have considered the fact he was born of a virgin, with an earthly father so willing to honor God with his life that he married a woman who was already pregnant.  In that day and time, a very taboo thing.  We also saw how the mother of Christ was chosen by God and given the dramatic news that she would carry the Son of God.  Imagine her awe, but also see her tremendous amount of fear as she would have received this announcement, knowing all she knew about the time in which she lived about how a woman out of wedlock showing up pregnant would be treated.  We also explored the lowly birth of Jesus in a stable of sorts, surrounded by animals, visited by shepherds, and then honored by magi from afar.  The announcement of his birth was by angels - start to finish.  Mary heard from an angel (a messenger from God), while Joseph was set at ease by a messenger from God on another occasion - assuring him the thing he was about to do in marrying Mary wa

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are ; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply ; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. (Romans 12:9-12) Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense,

Do me a favor

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4) Has God's love made ANY difference in your life? What is that difference? Most of us will likely say that our lives were changed for the good, while others will say there was a dramatic change. Some left behind lifestyles marked by all manner of outward sin - like drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, or even thievery. There are many that will admit the things they left behind were just a bit subtler - what we can call inward sin - things like jealousy,