YOU CAN DO IT! Romans 7:15-25
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. — Philippians 4:13
A young boy was at the barbershop for a haircut. The room was filled with cigar smoke. The lad pinched his nose and exclaimed, “Who’s been smoking in here!” The barber sheepishly confessed, “I have.” The boy responded, “Don’t you know it’s not good for you?” “I know,” the barber replied. “I’ve tried to quit a thousand times but I just can’t.” The boy commented, “I understand. I’ve tried to stop sucking my thumb, but I can’t quit either!”
Those two remind me of the way believers sometimes feel about their struggle with sins of the flesh. Paul summed it up well by crying out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). His spiritual battle might have left him in despair if he had not found the solution. Following his agonizing question, he declared with triumph, “I thank God- through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v.25).
Are you struggling to break some stubborn habit? Like Paul, you can be an overcomer. If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, victory is possible through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Confidently affirm with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). You can do it! By: Richard DeHaan
PRAYER LINE:
I have tried and I have struggled
From my sin to be set free;
Not by trying but through trusting,
Jesus gives the victory. –Complin
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Think less of the power of things over you and more of the power of Christ in you.