For the Struggling Soul

"I just got upset with my kids again. I am such a bad mom."

"I got frustrated at my husband for the dishes not getting done fully knowing I could have done them this afternoon instead of watching tv."

 

 

"What an awful day! It was because I didn't have my quiet time for the third day in a row."

 

 

"I desire to want to show grace to my love ones but I fail so much."


I bet all of us had thoughts like these one time or another. We kick ourselves because we want to do what is right but it seems like everything we try to do only leads to failing. We know that Christ died on the cross for our sins and when we believe we are new creations but it doesn't seem to connect with our hearts. What can we do? Nothing. We are not able to do anything. That is why Christ died.

Roman 8:1-4 "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² And because you belong to him, the power^[a] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you^[b] from the power of sin that leads to death. ³ The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.^[c] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. ⁴ He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit." nlt

Through what Christ did on the cross and because we belong to Him, we, as it says in verse two, have the power from the life-giving Spirit that lives in us.  We are in a constant state of becoming more like Him as we live by the Spirit. The law of Moses weakens us when we try to do good on our own. But because of Jesus coming down as God but in the same weak bodies we are in, died and fulfilled the law of Moses, we no longer need to live by the ways of the flesh. We are free!

You might be thinking,

 

 "Yeah I know that. It's great but I just don't have the connection between my head and my heart."

Romans 8:5-9,15-16  Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. ⁷ For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. ⁸ That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

⁹ But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

 

That connection only comes from forsaking the things of this word and walking in the Spirit. What do you think about all day long? Is it checking your Facebook feed? What drives you? What makes you "feel happy"? These questions can help you dictate if you are still feeding your mind the things of the flesh. Fleshy things fight against God. They are constant enemies. It is like holding onto something that is preventing you living a life of peace and grace.

But we have to bring ourselves back to what Christ did on the cross and allow the Spirit to lead. You have no more ties with the ways of the flesh no more. As it says in verse 13 it is through the power of the Spirit that you put to death the things of the your sinful nature. I looked in the King James Version and it states "if ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body". I looked up the Greek word mortify and it is a present tense verb. It means right now in this very moment through the Spirit, we can put to death the things of the flesh. Not what you did yesterday or what you might do tomorrow but right now. It is a moment by moment dependency on the Spirit of God.  That is what walking in the Spirit looks like.

Because we now belong to Christ and have no more ties with the things of the flesh through the Spirit only moment by moment, we do not need to be fearful anymore of the thoughts and the things that we do. Through the Spirit, we are joined to God where we can cry out to Him as our Father. And the Spirit can affirm that in us. We just have to walk in the Spirit by feeding our minds and hearts the things of God.

So the next time you fail and start having thoughts of putting yourself down or just tempted to scroll through your Facebook feed,  forsake those things and draw near to the Spirit and ask Him to affirm you in who you are in Christ. Even in the good times, constantly have Him remind you of who you are in Christ.

How about you? What areas do you struggle with where you seek out other things to make yourself happy when you have negative thoughts about yourself? Share below in the comments on how you feel. Or maybe what ways have you use before to help you draw near back to God in times of showing yourself no grace?

link up Jennifer Dukes Lee, Coffee for your heart