Spiritual Schizophrenia

Hey, Y'all,

Here's some cool stuff that reminds me why I have to follow God and not my own defective thinking (which may have gotten me into trouble in the past...yeah, I know it's just me, right?!?).

First, to set the stage, Romans 7:14-25 which captures the human condition beautifully--"why did I just do that? that's not what I wanted!" (kind of interesting how little some things change over a couple of millenia, huh?)(and yes, I'd suggest you read the whole passage in a couple of different versions if you have them as it fleshes out the excerpt)(and yes again--I can already hear some of you getting ready to fire off an e-mail--you should definitely read the whole of chapter 7, and then chapter 8 as it resolves the issue--but in the interest of space, that's for you big boys and girls to do on your own). Alright, here goes:

"The law is good, then. The trouble is not with the law but with me, because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master. I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can't help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.

"I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it.

"It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."

"For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are."

Hebrews 4:12

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 'I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind.'"

Jeremiah 17:9,10

"Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path."

Psalm 119:105

Cool, huh?

You've been prayed for today.

(originally posted October 27, 2005)