I continue to sin even though I know the difference.
“15For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.” – Romans 7:15 (ESV)
Why do I continue to do that which I know is wrong? Why do I continue to sin when I know the difference between right and wrong?
Well, here is what I know. I have not allowed God to take over. I still insist that I am in control. I am deceived into thinking that “I” have the power to resist.
The truth is that I am not strong enough to resist even the slightest of temptations. I am weak and as a human continuously looking to satisfy my human desires. I am looking to the now to satisfy everything. “I do not understand my own actions” as my own.
“16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” – Romans 7:16-17 (ESV)
I am not the one that is taking the actions, it is the sin inside me. I have to weed out the sin continuously. It is not something that I can do on a Sunday morning, and think that I am good for the next month. I have to tend to my heart each day all day.
I think of the flower bed at my house today and compare it to that of the retired neighbor down the street. My flower bed it seems is always over run with grass and I have to take a few hours every other week to tend to it getting it back in order. But my retired neighbor is able to spend his Saturday’s in enjoyment because he tends to the bed for 15 minutes a day every day and therefore the bed is healthier and cleaner all the time.
I have to be willing to put in the work each day to avoid being overrun by weeds of sin in my life. Taking the time each day to study and understand God’s word will be just what I need to help me ward off the sin that creeps in each day.
Are you aware that it is the sin in you that drives your actions? Are you able to put in the work weed out the sin daily? Will you work to understand and tend your heart?
Trevor's Thoughts 