It is hard for believers in Christ to live in this increasingly godless age where immoral behavior is on the steady increase and traditional morals seem to have been shunned and cast aside. Sometimes we believers in Christ fail to take a stand for what is right and go with the flow, but we must not do that. We need to take a stand for what is right and honoring to God.
Sometimes we fail to speak up because we don't want to make other people not like us. We must not be people pleasers, but we should do what is pleasing to God. Sometimes we know the right things that we should do, but we end up doing those things which we know we ought not to do.
We have a sinful nature that wants to gratify the flesh, but we believers in Jesus have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to help us walk in a way that honors the Lord. There is a war within every believer in Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul explains this battle in Romans 7:14-25,
"14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.a For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
20 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.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."
I want to do good and do things that honor the Lord, but sometimes I don't do the things that I know I should do. There is a rebelliousness deep within my heart that I know is there and I don't like it. There is a struggle within me and in every believer in Jesus Christ. We want to honor the Lord and do the things that He wants us to do.
We must submit to the lead of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must confess to the Lord our sin and repent of any know sin. We know that Jesus Christ bore the penalty for all of our sins on the Cross and we are saved by His shed blood on the Cross. We are saved by grace through faith in His finished work on the Cross. Everyone who come to faith in Christ receives the Holy Spirit to indwell them.
We can't live the Christian life on our own. We are too weak in our own power. The Holy Spirit is working within us to make us more like Jesus. Sometimes we may feel like we are on a roller coaster with all of the ups and downs, but the Holy Spirit is still at work. We must submit to His lead and His direction. We must walk in the Spirit and no longer obey the flesh. There are times when that seems rather difficult, but the Lord will help us if we just ask Him.
Lord,
We are weak, but You are strong.
Forgive us our wrongs.
Empower us to do what is right.
Help us to fix our sights on You.
Lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.
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