This past weekend my pastor delivered an awesome message about how to handle our “trip ups.” He shared with us how important it is to “fess up our mess ups.” I was reminded of that this morning as I was reading Romans.
In Romans 7 and 8 Paul details the struggle that goes on between our sinful nature and the Spirit. I can totally relate to 7:18-20, “…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. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” Paul goes on in Romans Chapter 8:6, “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
So how does a sinful person like me overcome this daily struggle with sin in order to let the Spirit control my mind? Interestingly enough as I was doing my morning devotion and came across this scripture in my recovery Bible, there was a text insert right next to Romans Chapter 8 and it was an explanation of the 10th step of the 12 step process. “We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted.” A daily inventory and subsequent confession of our sins “fess ups” allows us to steadily improve to a point where we allow the Spirit to control our minds and we have life and peace.
Living wrong to the sinner (and believe me I am a sinner) is not living wrong unless it is confessed to God as wrong. Satan tries his darndest to convince us that our sin is not wrong and if that doesn’t work he tries to shame and guilt us into thinking it is unforgivable…does that make sense? A daily personal inventory allows us to get honest with ourselves and with God and slowly but surely we leave the old lifestyle for the new. As I look back over my years of trying to walk the walk with Jesus it amazes me how my view and definition of my own sin has changed. Living a life filled with the spirit does indeed generate unbelievable spiritual fruits whether we ask for them or not. And it also pisses satan off which is always fun to do.
This whole Jesus walk is a process and not an event. I believe satan tries to get us to think it is an event, he tries to get us to give up because sin continues to be at the forefront of every thought word and deed. But as we slowly get into taking a daily inventory and getting honest with the way we are living “fessing up” we slowly begin to let the Spirit not only dwell in us but drive us. As Paul writes in Romans 8:16 “For this Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”
P.E.A.C.E
I understand where you are coming from Jay. It can be really frustrating (especially when you are in recovery) when you try to do what is right and good but you always seem to fall a little short. As I read Oswald Chambers this morning, “Our Utmost for His Highest”, he talks about Christ’s temptations. Chambers’ view is that the reason we are tempted is because Satan is attacking not us as a human being, but he is attacking the Holy Spirit that Jesus has placed within us. When we are with Christ and he is in us, we are going to have this constant confict of darkness vs. light. When we succumb to temptation life seems so much easier. The problem with that is we end up dead. When we follow the way of the Holy Spirit, we may have conflict, but with that comes life. Not only abundant life but life everlasting. As Paul noted, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, but there is nothing in all creation that can seperate us from His love. (Romans 8:37-39)
Reed
Amen Reed. Now that I think about it Satan wasn’t attacking me when I was without the Spirit because I was part of his army. God Bless!