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. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Romans 7:18-19 HCSB

This passage was written by Paul. Paul had formerly been known as Saul of Tarsus. He thought he was doing a good thing by persecuting Christians. Paul is first introduced by Luke in the book of Acts. A man named Stephen had preached a powerful sermon which enraged his audience to the point that they stoned him to death. We are told in Acts 7:58 that Paul held the coats of the witnesses. And in Acts 8:1 we see that Saul is a persecutor and agreed with the stoning of Stephen.

In Acts 9, Jesus confronted Saul while he was on the Damascus Road in route to capture Christians and bring them to Jerusalem. In verse 3, a light from heaven flashed and blinded Saul throwing him to the ground. Then he heard a voice (which was Jesus) saying, “Saul, Saul, why have you persecuted me?” When Saul asked who was speaking to him, Jesus said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

A goad was a sharp stick used to guide an ox. A stubborn ox would injure itself by kicking against it. When we refuse to obey God, we are only hurting ourselves. After Saul was converted to Christianity, Jesus changed his name to Paul. In our Scripture passage Paul talks about the inner struggle we all face against temptation and sin.

Our pastor often says when God says, “Thou shalt not…” what He is really saying is don’t hurt yourself. When we stubbornly reject God’s will, no good comes from that. God doesn’t bless our disobedience.

When we get saved, we no longer want to sin, but there will still be times when we fail. There will still be times when we slip up. We will not reach perfection until we are called home to spend eternity with our Lord and Savior.

I don’t know where you are in your relationship with Jesus or even if you have one. I do know, however, from personal experience if you resist Jesus, you are only hurting yourself. I also know that no matter how horrible your sins may be, God can remove them from you. He promises in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins to Him, He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The devil will lie to you. Don’t listen to him. He will try to tell you things like there is no use, you will never be good enough. He will try to tell you that your past sins are just too bad to be forgiven. He will try to tell you that God is okay with your sin, so you really don’t need to repent or stop sinning. But Jesus said in John 8:44 that the devil is a liar and there is no truth in him.

Your sin will hurt you, but Jesus can heal you. You have a choice: you can continue on in sin and suffer the consequences, or you can trust in Jesus and let his blood wash your sins away.

When we refuse to let go of our sin and surrender to Jesus, we are only hurting ourselves. When we surrender to live our life in Jesus Christ, even in our suffering, He will be with us.

For the rest of his life, Paul preached the gospel. He suffered imprisonment, shipwreck, beating, stoning all for God. He lived the rest of his life praising God and preaching the gospel. He is credited with writing 13 books of the Bible and possibly 14, as some believe he is the author of Hebrews.

After all he had done, Paul became one of the greatest men in the Bible. If God could use him, he can use you. Surrender your life to Him today and stop hurting yourself.

Have a great day!