Over the last five devotionals we have spoken about seeking Jesus, a relationship with him, learnt and saul/pauls hatred and how heart shifts are super important.

In today's devotional we are looking at a passage in Romans ‘the law and sin’ 

Paul wrote this to the church. What's interesting in ‘the background’ of this passage is that paul 

was addressing that divide and laying out that salvation through faith in Jesus was for everyone, not just Jews. Yet he himself had not yet arrived when writing this letter 

(gotta love the random things you remember from attending christian school) 

Paul gets deeply personal about the struggle with sin and the law. In this passage. I feel like we have spoken about the DESIRE and the IMPORTANCE on a relationship with God but this passage speaks to the STRUGGLE of such a relationship.

See as humans we have flesh (craazzyy) and we have to be quite mindful and hold discernment in many places when making decisions.

In Devotion 4 I spoke on a personal subject regarding my sobriety post on social media and how I hoped this ‘choice’ would help me achieve a greater work load- how society encourages us to get ‘more’ work done and hustle culture runs rampant in society.

I was focusing on ‘making sure the path is one God wants for you-not if it is deemed a successful path’

In today's devotional we are talking about remaining on that path and how that could look on a daily, weekly, monthly, even yearly basis. 

The struggles we hold and the temptations to do what we want, what our flesh wants and not what is what we are called to do.

What I really enjoy is when Paul says: 

"For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." Romans 7:18

As a christian in the world (like all of us) I really resonated with this- there are times I look back on a behaviour I have made, a choice that resulted in something that took me further from God.

And the emotion of grief that came soon after was one that would have me ask Jesus to help me make the right choice next time-or help me not be placed in situations that have me choose at all.

Yet even in the moment, even in the immediate ‘yes/no’ response did I feel ‘pulled'. 

Paul addresses this so profoundly in this passage. He speaks on how our hearts, they may have Godly desires yet even with those desires our flesh can still win. 

This can be something we see when our worldly friends ask us about our faith, our stance on something that would in fact reveal a view of Love for the Lord.

The flesh can sneak in, and ‘justify’ why we should keep it quiet. We create pre-determined outcomes and allow our flesh to run wild in sin with them.

This passage is not a ‘hall pass’ but it is one of reality. 

It's the movie montage where the hardship- the adversity is shown to the viewer- and yes we know how it goes in that 90 minute emotional rollercoaster.

The bible has countless teachings, countless encouragements and warnings.

This passage, in my opinion, is an acknowledgement passage. Of the ‘zoom in of the sweat beads on the main characters temple’

It's your choice if you choose to take this and continue to strive to be great, to win the championship, against all odds ( basic sports hero movie reference).

We will always have flesh, it's what allows us to be on this planet, but our flesh will always want us to do things that are sinful. 

This is why seeking God, Jesus and HS is the lifeline we have to continuously hold on too. 

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THE LAW AND SIN

'Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 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. 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. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 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. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 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.'

Romans 7:1-25

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