For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.     Romans 7:19-20 HCSB

Paul writes here about the war that exists between the flesh and the Spirit. We’ve all wanted to do something good but come up with an excuse as to why we shouldn’t do it? We’ve all done things that we know we shouldn’t have done?

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become enemies to the devil. When we sin we become enemies to Christ. The devil is not bothered as long as we are not saved and are living sinful lives. When we get saved, however, the devil must go to work trying to lure us back into a life of sin.

One of the best ways to stop us from doing good is distractions. We live in a world with many, many distractions. Television used to be one of just a few distractions in our home. But now, we have the internet. It’s like this whole world of distractions wrapped up neatly in a laptop, tablet, or phone.

I have been amazed at how I have sat down to look up one thing and before you know it, I have spent hours and gained massive amounts of useless information.

How many times do you put off doing something you know you should do because you get caught up in social media, the news, gaming or some other internet distraction? How many times do you fail to do what you know God would want you to do because you are distracted?

How often do you do things you know you shouldn’t do? You engage in gossip, you know you shouldn’t but you just can’t help yourself. You know you shouldn’t but you eat too much, you say something hurtful to someone else, you let your anger get the best of you and the list goes on and on.

Philippians 4:6 tells us not to worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. When we are anxious about life events, we may as well just tell God we don’t trust Him.

In today’s world it’s easy to become anxious and/or depressed. In Biblical times David was depressed. He expressed this in many of his Psalms. He also, however, acknowledged God’s protection and salvation of the righteous.

When you become depressed is it that you don’t trust God to have your back or is it because you don’t trust yourself to do what is right?

We must be careful not to sin when we get caught up in our emotions like anxiety, depression and anger. We all have emotions, we all experience these feelings. It’s what we do with them that matters. We must not succumb to temptation during these times.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul writes, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.”

God provides a way of escape through our faith in Jesus Christ. Food, drugs, alcohol, sex or any other obsession will not provide a way of escape. It will only make things worse. Turn to your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and surrender to Him.

I am not downplaying depression, anxiety or anger issues. I simply want you to understand that while these are things no one wants to suffer there is a right way to handle it. Turn to your pastor, a Christian counselor or a trusted friend. Don’t give in to temptation. Pray and study your Bible. There are plenty of verses on these subjects to give you help.

The next time you catch yourself saying, “I know I shouldn’t, but…” stop right there. Pray to God to deliver you from that temptation. You know this temptation comes from the devil, take that thought captive making it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). If you know you shouldn’t do it, then stop and ask God to help you refrain.

Have a great day!