Addicted 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.^[c] 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? ²⁵Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!-Romans 7:15-25


There are many things in the Bible I don't relate to.  I know nothing of sheep herding and very little about farming or fishing.  


There are a lot of things in the Bible I don't understand.  I can't fathom how God could love me so much or why Jesus would suffer and die for me.  


There is much in the Bible that confuses me.  I don't get why the flood was necessary if God already planned to send Jesus to save the world from sin or why God would need to "test" Abraham's faith if God already knows our hearts.

But if there is any scripture that every single one of us can relate to, understand and is clear in our minds, it is Paul's discourse on doing what he doesn't want to do.  Every one of us has been there and done that. We struggle with it each and every day.


This is the stuff that addiction is made of... knowing what we should do, but being powerless to do it.  Yes we are all addicts.  We are not all addicted to alcohol or drugs, but we are addicted to something.  It could be food or shopping or approval.  We may have a need to be right about everything or crave gossip.  Maybe we just love to peek at the broken lives of others so we can feel better about ourselves... like watching Morrie or gawking at the Casey Anthony trial.  We know we shouldn't do it.  We really don't want to, and yet we find ourselves there time and time again.  


Paul is right.  Our only hope is in Jesus Christ.  We can't do it on our own.  There is no amount of willpower that will keep us from our addiction to sin.  It is only when we turn our lives over to him that we can change.  It is the power of God's will, not ours, that can work in our lives to defeat our addictions.


Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!


Lord Jesus,
Help us to turn over our addictions, whatever they may be, to you.  Heal us.  Amen.


Joys:  a lazy day at home yesterday; hiking today; coffee ready when I got up