Living FreeSample

Prayer: Father, give me your wisdom as I seek to understand your Word. Transform my desires to match your heart today!

Divided Nature

Every person makes mistakes. And every Christian is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. So what happens when a Christian makes mistakes? They find themselves stuck in the same trap Paul describes in Romans 7!

Paul explains the difficult division every believer will experience between following Christ and following their own hearts. God promises to transform our hearts and minds to be more like his, but this process takes time and will not be completed during our lives on earth. In the meantime, we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to give us strength to resist temptation, trusting God's promise that he will always provide an escape. 

Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. Where do you run in times of stress or frustration? What are your common temptations? Write them out to help illuminate where you need God's protection against attack.
2. Why does God allow us to still struggle against sin after we've been saved by faith in Christ? How is he glorified in our weakness? 

What’s Next?

1. Fighting sin alone is never ideal. Look at your common temptations that you just wrote down, and consider how you could limit your ability to act on those temptations with the help of someone you trust.
2. Talk with that person today about how you could better pursue holiness together!