For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.     Romans 7:15-18 HCSB

I want to do good all the time. I want to love the most unlovable people with the love of Christ. I want to be a good person. I want to consistently obey God’s commands. But, there are just times when I fail miserably. There are times when I am selfish and I think of me, me, me. I say and do as I please which I know doesn’t always please God.

Last fall we lost a beautiful lady from our church. A dear friend and I tried to visit her weekly. On one of these visits, about a month before she passed away, she looked into my eyes and said that she was worried that she had not done well for God. She was worried that she had not been as good a Christian as she should have been. It was then that I told her how my husband and I had considered her a mentor when we got back into church. I told her that she had touched way more lives than she knew. Even though she was sad about going into a nursing home, she had witnessed to staff and residents around her. She had shown others the love of Christ and had shown His light through her. I have no doubt that when she met with Jesus, He said to her, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

I look at such a wonderful Christian woman and I was shocked that she doubted her goodness. But I understand because there are times that the devil seems to sit on my shoulder. If I’m not careful, he will control the things I do and the words I say. He will try to convince me to give up because I will never be good enough. He tells me that I will never measure up because I am a miserable sinner. I know that I must guard against this at all times.

As a Christian, I want to be able to present myself to God as a good and faithful servant. I want to do the right things, but there is this spiritual war that rages inside of me.

We must guard against the temptation of the devil. That sounds easy, but there is that flesh that resides in us that wants us to do the things that displease God. Our flesh wants us to please ourselves. But the awful thing is that when we satisfy the flesh, we may be happy for a short time, but then we will feel disappointed with ourselves. The sin that we used to fill that void will leave us feeling empty.

So what’s a body to do? Well, the Bible answers this for us in Matthew 6:33. If we focus on God, He will provide all we need. Tony Evans explains this verse like this. If we set our eyes and focus on the King, the King’s got our back. God will give us strength to do the things we need to do. God will give us strength to avoid the things and behaviors that we should avoid. We must trust in Him. In James 4:7 we are told to submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from us.

I so want to be a saint all the time, but sadly there are often times when I am a sinner. I need to recognize what causes this and turn to God to help me with that. This week it has been bitterness and anger. I have had to pray for God to help me stand against these feelings. I have had to pray for God to remove this from me. Look at the sin in your life. Perhaps it’s in what you are thinking or saying to others. Perhaps it is some addiction that you just can’t shake. Whatever it is, know that God’s bigger than your sin. Trust in Him. Put all of your focus on Him and resist the devil. Do your best to bring Him glory and honor and praise in all that you do.

Then when you are welcomed into heaven to gather with your loved ones that have gone before you, you will hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Have a great day!