Romans 7:15-18 English Standard Version

¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

Once we make Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives the desire to do right is the will that abides in our hearts. Christ who reigns from within our hearts. Our will is selfless, it hears and believes our Lord. Obedience on the other hand is a function of the mind which is still flesh and vulnerable to attacks from without and within.

This issue of living with sin is difficult to accept since we, meaning our self, has been sanctified and separated from the consequences of sin. Self now abides in Christ and is the will that agrees with Christ our Lord and Savior. John tried to express it in terms we might understand.

1 John 1:5-6 English Standard Version

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Practicing the truth is obedience of faith and as Paul points out so painfully, we do not always practice what we preach. Walking in darkness is going our own way and not allowing Christ to lead us in truth. It happens because the mind, which is flesh, being subjected to influences, will sometimes make back choices.

If we justify those choices we become self-righteous.

1 Corinthians 8:2 English Standard Version (ESV) If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

I never imagined myself saying this; “I don’t know.”

It is alright to admit you don’t know. We study together, we search the scriptures and questions will come up where we don’t have the answers. It is better to say “I don’t know” than to make something up.

We like to be seen as a source of help for others who are struggling, and we should be there for them. The worst thing we can do for them is to use our imagination when truth is the only thing that will help them.

Some have decades of experience in finding answers and it can be daunting to hear a question we have not heard or thought. If we let our years of experience place us in a position of considering ourselves a reliable source of help, we must remember that it is our Lord who is our help.

Psalm 34:17 English Standard Version (ESV) When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

A troubled mind is trouble and yet we do not often think about that condition. Trying to use our imagination to sort out answers is a sign of pride. We should cry out to the Lord and ask with honest and sincere faith, “Help me Lord or help them without me.”

We don’t always have to be their answer man. Maybe it is someone else’s turn to be the one to answer.

In a group setting there will always be one or two that are seen to be reliable and that is fine but what if there is one or two more that the Lord is needing to raise up in confidence to be a source of help? It is best sometimes to withhold a quick answer and allow others to “take a shot at it”.