Rom. 7:15-24, (NIV), “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. I know that nothing good lives 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 what I do is not the good I want to do; no, 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: When 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 the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

This is a perfect picture of an average Christian who genuinely desires to do the will of God but finds it pretty difficult as a result of an internal struggle where he or she ends up doing what the inner man would not have done.

I think we need to get a point here. A Christian experiencing an internal struggle is a Christian who still has his or her conscience alive and working. It is a living conscience that struggles with an act of unrighteousness and not a dead conscience. The reason some people do not feel guilty is because their conscience is dead. Apostle Paul, just like any of us experiencing the inner struggle, desire to do good and live right but found it impossible due to a superior power of sin on the inside of him. Consider his statement “…another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.”

Everyman has the potential to be unfaithful, but only those who realize and fight against it tend to be faithful. Man is not a righteous being by default; it takes a continuous and deliberate battle to live a righteous life. No one become righteousness just by desiring it, you work towards it. The things we see on a daily basis are a direct challenge to our spiritual convictions. Paul did not resign to fate in his internal struggle; he desired victory against his sinful nature always prevailing against his inner man that desired to please God. For any man or woman to exercise control over the struggle within, he or she must first desire victory over the sinful nature and realize that the power to overcome comes from God alone. Every man is tempted but every man has a right to refuse to yield or succumb. The problem with man [both male and female] is the fact that man is not willing to fight. Heb 12:4, [KJV] “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”

The human body will never refuse pleasure so, when the temptation to sin comes, man naturally yield and give in because righteousness is not in his character. Little surprise some can take it upon themselves to fight the course of sexual perversion like homosexuality and lesbianism. Man always desire to have his way and have unrestricted access to pleasure but unfortunately, man does not seem to realize that there is no amount of pleasure that will ever be enough. Prov. 27:20 “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.”

It was the genuine desire Apostle Paul had to please God that made him cried out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” The reason many are not winning the struggle within is because they lack a genuine desire to please God and overcome the flesh. They are comfortable indulging in sinful pleasure. Such people can hardly get any help from the Holy Spirit because they are not looking in His direction for help. If the vessel carrying the grace and the anointing of God is earthly and corrupt, then it is normal to expect a conflict between the content and the container.

It is rather unfortunate that many of us either give up the struggle and accept the way of sin as a normal way of life e.g. lesbians, fornicators, homosexuals, liars in fact the list is endless or they give up and accept defeat and end their lives by committing suicide. The action that follows your inner struggle says more about who you really are and in whom you trust. Just like Paul, you need to recognize that you need help and the only one who can help you is Christ Jesus. I understand and know fully well that breaking away from habits is not as easy as we think. The earlier we realize and understand this the better for us. Sinful habits might take years to overcome and the fact that we have victory over these sinful ways does not mean that they will still not pull us towards sin again.

 

Some think that once they have successfully broken away from these habits, they should never feel like doing them again. NO! You will definitely feel like doing them again and again and again and that is the exact point where you need the power of God that liberates.

Some desires I struggled against as a young Christian that I had expected will suddenly disappear once I get married are still as very much active as they used to be. I cried and wept as I never expected to still struggle against them any more but when I read the story of Brother and Apostle Paul, then I realized I am not alone.

The struggle within is a battle every genuine child of God must go through till we see Jesus because we live in a world that is so friendly to sin and immorality but so hostile to holiness and righteousness and to make the matter worst, we also once belonged there. So, it will not be out place to feel tempted but it will be absolutely wrong to give in. As long as we live in this body of sin, we cannot claim to have won the battle. Jesus won the battle for us and we are expected to live in that victory on a daily basis. Jesus knew that in our daily journey with Him, there is a possibility of us slipping off the track though He desire that never happens but He knows our weakness. I am not making a case for sin because the Bible says that we cannot continue in sin and expect grace to multiply as all I am saying is that Jesus has made a room to accommodate your mistakes on this part of eternity. I John 2:1, [World English Bible], “My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.”

This is a truth I believe that if those who commit suicide had known and appreciated they wouldn’t have assisted the devil in sending them to hell. Christianity is not a religion but the way of life that must affect the way we see life and live it. It must be practical enough to help address the difficult issues we face in life and provide practical solution. One of these difficult issues is THE STRUGGLE WITHIN. No matter the sin, desire or habit you are struggling against, Jesus knows about it and He wants to help you and if you will not be ashamed to seek Him to help you, you might just discover that He is the only One helping millions of us in our daily battle against this struggle within.

 

Rom 8:5 – 14, [World English Bible] “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be. Those who are in the flesh can’t please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.”

IF YOU INSIST ON LIVING LIFE YOUR OWN WAY THEN YOU ARE FAR FROM VICTORY. IF YOU EVER DESIRE TO PREVAIL OVER THE STRUGGLE WITHIN THEN YOU HAVE TO LIVE LIFE GOD’S WAY AND SELF DENIAL IS ONE THING YOU WILL FIND ALL THE WAY.

 

SHALOM!!!

 

SIN IS NOT A FRIEND!

IT SINKS DESTINIES

IT ERODES HONOUR

TERMINATES DIGNITY AND

MARS WISDOM