What to do?

What do you do when you know what to do but choose to do the other not-so-right thing?

What do you do when you know what to do but don’t want to do it?

For our initial summer small group meeting, I made brownies. Nothing special. But chocolate loveliness from a box, nonetheless. Tim cut them into bite sized pieces. I also had the obligatory fruit and vegetables.

I think maybe a carrot or two was eaten and one person took a brownie home with them.

Tim was supposed to take the brownies to work with him. I had put them in a bag and placed them near the door. But, when I entered the kitchen, that was the first thing I spotted.

Now, I told myself, “I am the righteousness of Christ. I have the fruit of the spirit – one of which is self-control.” I think they lasted an hour. Probably less. They were delicious.

Now, did I know what I was doing or was I sleep-eating? I made a conscious decision to eat every last one of them. I exercised no self control whatsoever.

I’m in good company. Like the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7 “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” And later, “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.”

If I want to do right but don’t, does that mean I don’t hate my sin enough? Does it mean I don’t love Jesus enough? I have wrestled with this for awhile. But if I would just continue reading in the same chapter, verse 22 “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature, I am a slave to sin.”

Ok – so that’s it? I’m just a sinner and that’s my life so I’m always going to binge? Drink to excess? Rage? Gossip? Be foolish, lazy and mediocre?

No! Keep reading!

Chapter 8 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

I am free from the power of sin because I am a daughter of the King. I now have the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living inside of me! Through the power of the Spirit, I put to death the deeds of my sinful nature.

What does this mean? I sin but am not condemned by that. I need to continue to feed that Spirit through worship, the Word and prayer so that I am led by it and not my flesh or by my feelings.

Will I ever master this? No! Why? Because on this earth and in this body, there will always be a war between my flesh and Spirit. Again, in Romans 8:23 “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit with in us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us.”

Here is the key thought – again, everything points us back to God, Jesus and His Spirit. “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.” (verse 26)

We aren’t left to deal with our sin and weakness on our own or with human willpower. We have the Spirit (the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead!) and we can call on Him to help us in our weakness.

Thank you, Jesus, for loving us so much. For providing a way to have communion and relationship with you. Thank you, Spirit, for helping us in our human frailty to become what You have called us to. Amen.