Tuesday, September 29th, 2015
THE FRUSTRATION OF ROMANS 7:15
“For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
I don’t know about you, but I come up against Romans 7:15 most every day. I want to pray more diligently, but I don’t. I don’t want to think selfishly, but I do. It’s frustrating.
The truth of the matter is that the natural self – what we inherited from Adam and Eve – has such a grip on most of us that we’re like alcoholics vowing never to drink again and falling off the wagon two days later. I may focus on Jesus and pray purposefully at every turn of events in the morning, and then get caught up in the busyness of the day somewhere around noon and relegate Him to the recesses of my mind for the rest of the day.
The answer to this dilemma, of course, is found in Romans 8. Only as I let the Holy Spirit control my mind, will, and emotions do I stand a chance of doing what I want to do and not doing what I hate to do. We’ll look specifically at Romans 8:1 on Friday.