I am studying a bit for my sermon next week (yes, I am working ahead!). I am preaching on Romans 12 which we have been looking together each week during our worship gatherings. Which, by the way, has been an amazing practice. We’ve basically been taking about 5-10 minutes and reading and discussing sections of Romans 12 together every sunday morning. It is so helpful to a) look at scripture together as a community and b) keep going back to the same scripture and let it permeate our lives and our life together. Well, more about that some other time…
I am looking at all the ways that we are called to give up our own desires for the sake of others and I am realizing that most of us want to live this way. Most of us don’t want to be selfish jerks who live only for ourselves. But, more often than not we find ourselves not living what we really genuinely aspire to.
So here is my question, besides the obvious fact that we are imperfect people still clinging on to the sin nature, what is it that keeps us from living the way we feel called to. I mean, Sunday mornings (or any other time we have an in your face encounter with God) we are often called to repent of the way we are living and live in light of hte gospel. Then, something happens and we tend to not really change the way we live and revert to our old habits.
Why is this? How can we combat this? How can we stop genuinely wishing we were living a certain way and actually do it?
I have some of my own thoughts, but of course, your thoughts are welcomed and encouraged…