Romans 7: 20-25 - 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. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there
with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the
members of my body, waging war against the law of my
mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.. What a wretched
man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ
our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to
God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law
of sin.
How comforting to know that Paul struggled with sin…this
amazing man who seemed to carry any load Christ asked of him is calling himself
wretched! This man who sang hymns and
praised God at midnight from a jail cell…is admitting his own personal battle
with evil. Paul describes what all of us
feel many times a day as we struggle to follow the spirit and do what God wants…not
our own selfish desire and do what we want. Helps immensely for me to know I am
not alone in my own battles of the flesh….that even the great preacher Paul
struggled daily with some sin in his own life.
These sins have been at work in our life for quite some
time. They have made sin a habit…learned
over time…set in our minds and hearts as the only way to do things….sometimes even
set in our hearts as the right way to do things. We have become experienced in
winning battles of the flesh….to the point that evil has disguised itself as
good. Evil wins most of the time…because
it is what we knew before Christ came into our hearts…sin remains prevalent in
our hearts because we don’t take the time to identify the evil and ask God to
erase it from our lives.
James E. Haynes Jr. put these flesh battles into three
categories. There are ‘sexual sins’ like
lust….impure relationships….or pornography…that rob us of the real love God
offers. The battles of ‘misguided allegiance’ like witchcraft….idols…or cults…that
brainwash us into believing anyone else can provide for us at all. And the battles of ‘relationships’ like hate….envy….gossip…murder
…and unforgiveness…that take hold of our hearts and minds and turn us into
bitter creatures…forgetting just how loving and caring our Lord is. Pick out your sin…or maybe I should call it a
‘bad habit’…that sounds a little less defensive….it is in the list…in one of
these three categories….and if we don’t battle it and remove it from our life…it
will continue to control us…even though we have given our hearts to God.
What we must do… is ask God one by one to help us conquer
any of these sins…to slowly erase the effects they have had on our lives and
give us power to eradicate them permanently from our lives. These bad habits are built over time…and
this erasing process is not instant. We have to pray daily that God will help
us…and as we win the small battles…we become strong…and build new character
traits…that God can use to make us workers for him…like Paul. Our battle against sin becomes our testimony to
God’s power at work in our lives.
Lord you know my battles with many sins…I pray this morning
that you help me be courageous and strong as you help me to more like you. The process is painful and hard sometimes…for
I too am wretched…letting evil overtake me way to many times. Thanks be to your son…who makes it possible
for me to identify these sins and ask you to erase them from my life…even turn
them into a mighty testimony of how much you have done for me. Give me power this morning to permanently
place each sin you identify completely out of my life. Amen.
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