Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – July 6, 2015
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing… Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Romans 7:7:18-19, 25
I do not trust myself to always make the best decisions. My pride and ego need checks and balances to protect me from myself. For example, I persuaded myself in the past to exclusively manage our very modest financial portfolio—it looked easy and fun. But the truth is: I am too emotionally invested to make the wisest investments. I need the objectivity and skill of an experienced financial planner. If I consistently make life decisions alone I will one day find myself sad and alone. A healthy distrust of myself leads to a healthier trust in God and people.
The apostle Paul (who wrote much of the New Testament) struggled to always do the right thing. Though he experienced salvation in Christ, his tendency to sin continued to pull him away from God’s control of his will. The flesh comes alive to pride, but is put to death by humble trust in Jesus. The more Paul matured as a Christian the more he felt the sting of sin and the sensitivity to quickly confess and repent. As a self proclaimed chief of sinners he felt the full extent of Almighty God’s abhorrence of sin. Since God delivers us by our Lord Jesus—sin is not to be our ruin!
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Do you find yourself occasionally debating in your head between two competing thoughts? One argument convinces you to give in to the lust of the flesh—just this one time, while the other voice speaks softly and firmly of a self-restrained, Spirit-led process. You are set up for failure if you trust yourself to be alone with another person other than your spouse. You will be horrifically burned if you allow sexual smoldering to be extinguished outside of marriage. It is naive and reckless not to have behavioral boundaries. Distrust decisions made without wise counsel.
The tension of doing the disciplined wise thing rather than the expedient foolish thing never goes away—until heaven. It even intensifies the more you vie for a guileless heart toward God and others. Thus, stay immersed in Scripture. Soak your mind in truth until it saturates your soul. Confess your faults to friends who love you and will protect you from yourself. Listen to godly counsel, swallow your pride and do it. Learn to trust Christ alone. He alone knows your heart better than you know your own heart. Follow the Spirit’s lead. Distrust trusting yourself!
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want” (Galatians 5:16-17).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I trust You to protect me from myself by Your humble wisdom.
Related Readings: 1 Samuel 2:3; Proverbs 16:1-3; Matthew 26:41; John 6:33; Romans 8:6-9
Post/Tweet this today: Distrust decisions made without wise counsel. #distrust #trust
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