I am so tired. Due to my sin nature, I find that living in God’s will is impossible. I invoke 1 John 1:9 and only minutes later find my thoughts rushing back into the situation for which I just sought forgiveness. I am desperate for the blessings of God. I am so thankful for what Jesus did for me and at the same time, I find that obedience through gratitude is such an elusive goal.
Obedience through gratitude is not an elusive goal. It’s an impossible goal, and the harder we try to achieve it the more impossible it seems. As long as we have a sin nature we’ll be just like Paul described himself in Romans 7:18-20.
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.
He capped off the thought in Romans 8:1 saying, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
The more compulsive about our behavior we become the more failure we’ll experience. More failure can only result in more discouragement, and soon the enemy will have stolen the joy of our salvation. (He can’t steal our salvation so has has to settle for making us miserable.)
Claim Romans 8:1 for yourself and use it to stop worrying. The Lord knew every sin of your life before you committed any of them and took them all to the cross where He forgave them by dying in your place (Colossians 2:13-14).