Lately, God has really been talking to me a lot about holiness and righteousness. Not in a legalistic sense (been there/done that), but in the sense that it really is where our hearts should lie and what our hearts should desire.
I know I’m not perfect. I honestly don’t think I’m anywhere near it, but I desire to be. Not for the sake of pride or boasting, but simply because I desire to please my God. I hate it when I give in to my flesh (the bad things my body desires).
I’ve been spending a lot of time reading Romans lately, and this letter is very quickly becoming one of my favorites of Paul. There’s just so much here, especially in connection to our hearts, grace and righteousness.
Romans 7 gives one of the most perfectly worded expressions of the war that constantly goes on between our flesh and our spirit… the desire to do good and what is right, and the fleshly desire that battles against it desiring to please ourselves. I’ve quoted this a lot through the years, but these words have become way more real to me over the past few months than they ever have in the past.
Man, how I sincerely long to do what is righteous in the sight of my God. It truly is the desire of my spirit, but my flesh fights hard against my spirit. I like how the NLT translates what Paul writes towards the end of this letter in Romans 13 verse 14 – “… and don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.”
That word “think” is what really sticks out to me. As someone who is an internal thinker, my mind goes on wild tangents often. It’s beyond easy for me to let my thoughts run off into all kinds of crazy places. So, with that in mind, how am I supposed to not let myself “think about the ways to indulge {my} evil desires”? I’ve been THINKING… haha… about that a lot lately, too, and in doing so I’ve been going back to another great part of Romans where Paul talks about our minds.
Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
First, releasing those evil desires of our bodies, and giving our them up as a sacrifice for our God is an act of worship. It’s pleasing to Him. I like that thought – being a holy sacrifice since He sacrificed so much for us.
To go along with this, and once again loving how NLT translates this passage, Paul says “let God transform you…”. I think that’s a part that we sometimes get snagged up with because we often forget to see that this is through His power and not ours. Yes, we need to change the way we think, or at least I do, but often times I try to do that on my own and it fails. So, maybe… if I come to Him more often and ask Him to help me change the way I think, perhaps in Him I (we) could find more success.
That also kinda makes me think about what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10 “… For when I am weak, then I am strong.” He’s talking about something he feels like is a weakness and is holding him back, but when he went to God about it, God told revealed that his weakness makes him strong in God. Sometimes those things that are hard for us can be strengths when we give them over to God and let Him handle the rest. It also reminds us of our lowliness, and keeps our pride in check.
The truth is… I think God wants us to rely on Him and to ask Him for help. Maybe sometimes we think God gets tired of us always coming to Him, at least I think I do, but I really that’s not the case at all. I’m pretty sure it’s what He wants… because when we give Him the space to do the work, He can show off. And He’s really the one who deserves to show off, anyway.
That being said, God, change my mind and the way I think. I don’t want to even think about evil things that my flesh may desire… I just want to think about You and Your desires. Help me to do the things I want to do – the things You desire for me because they are good and pleasing and perfect.
