By Annaika Dastine | Founder, Who Is This Jesus? Ministry

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.  I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."

The Battle Within: Keep Fighting

When was the last time you paused to meditate on these verses?

I have read this passage many times throughout my journey with Jesus Christ. Yet over the past six years, as my relationship with Him has deepened, I have come to better understand what the Apostle Paul is describing for those who have died to sin and confessed, "Jesus is Lord."

I often pray, "Lord, this battlefield is hard. Sometimes I wish You would take me home the moment I surrender my life to You."

My friend, Paul, is not giving us permission to continue in sin. He reminds us that every believer is engaged in a daily spiritual battle.

The moment you declared Jesus as Lord, you became a target. Your mind, heart, and soul are under attack.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us:

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Notice that Peter says the devil prowls around. He has no authority over our lives unless we surrender our soul to him.

Satan doesn't usually attack our strengths. He looks for our weaknesses.

For me, one of those weaknesses was rooted in childhood trauma. I grew up feeling unheard, dismissed, invisible, and experienced different forms of abuse. This year, I asked God to reveal to me why I become so angry when people treat others, or me, with rudeness, dismissiveness, or abuse. Something as simple as walking into a room, not saying good morning, acknowledging people are present, when that might be the only positive in their day. 

God revealed that those reactions were connected to wounds from my past.

My heart's feelings during these moments are not the problem. The battle was whether I would let my flesh react or let Christ respond through me.

That is the struggle Paul is describing.

Every day, my desire is to please God. Yet there are times when my sinful flesh rises up. In those moments, I must choose to surrender again to Christ.

When I fail, I don't stay down.

Through the blood of Jesus Christ, I get back up, tighten the armor of God He has already placed upon me, and press on, fighting the good fight of faith.

Don't let Satan use your failures or the judgment of others to convince you to quit and return to your old life.

In our journey with Jesus, there may be times when we fall. When that happens, we face a choice.

Will we respond like Judas Iscariot, who missed the heart of God and was overcome by remorse, guilt, and condemnation?

Or will we respond like Peter, who denied Jesus, wept over his sin with genuine repentance, and was restored by Christ to become a pillar of the early Church?

Our failures do not have to define our future. In Jesus Christ, repentance leads to restoration, while condemnation leads to destruction.

Choose repentance. Choose Jesus.  Our goal is to one day hear our Savior say,

"Well done, good and faithful servant."

Don't give up, my friends. Your soul is worth fighting for.

Weekly Scripture Romans 7:19–20 NIV