Romans 7:15-25—For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold [s]into bondage to sin. For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. 

I, as I am sure you, can relate to Paul here! I know what the right thing to do is in any given situation according to scripture and the law. Yet, in my weakness, I do not always DO IT! Yet, in my flesh, I often do what I do NOT WANT TO DO. It is this conundrum that drives many to despair, depression and even, in extreme cases, suicide! 

I feel weak. I feel like a failure every time I slip. Being a pastor does not change the feelings inside of me when I succumb to sin or temptation. Take heart, Christian. You are not alone in this struggle between flesh and spirit. It has raged on for millennia. 

Yet when we feel all is lost, that we can never be better, that this is our lot in life, we read the rest of the passage! “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our LORD!” He sets us free from the body of this death! Do not condemn yourself when you slip. Do not become discouraged when your earthly desires win out in the battle over the spirit temporarily. Battles are important, but the WAR is critical! Stay in faith! Repent, and start again. The Holy Spirit works within me to encourage me, convict me, and get me back on track! He does this for you as well, when you are in Christ.