Lord, Why Can’t I Change?

 

First, ask yourself:  Do you want to change?  If you don’t want to change, stop reading now because the following message will mean nothing to you!  If you do want to change, read on.

 

·        Why do you find it difficult to change for the better? 

·        Why do you continue in the same habitual sins, even after you have confessed and repented?

 

The Apostle Paul describes this dilemma in Romans 7:14-25, “We know that the Law is spiritual. But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin. In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. Although I don't do what I know is right, I agree that the Law is good. So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.

I know that my selfish desires won't let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. And so, if I don't do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.

The Law has shown me that something in me keeps me from doing what I know is right. With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.  So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.” (NIRV)

Have you ever felt like that?  Most of us who are attempting to live a godly lifestyle have gone through this battle of the flesh.  The more you try to do right, the more you fail.  Sometimes you feel like you’re going around in circles on a merry-go-round and you don’t know how to get off.  You go to church some Sundays when you feel like it, you pray sometimes when you find the time and you try to read your Bible, but it doesn’t make any sense to you and feel like you’re in a losing battle!  You wonder what you are doing wrong.  Why can’t you have a victorious life like other Christians you see and hear about?  What do they have that you don’t? 

 Here’s the reason you can’t change:  You don’t have the power to do so on your own!!!  If you continue reading further in Romans 8:1-13, Paul has the solution to your dilemma.  “Those who belong to Christ Jesus are no longer under God's sentence.  I am now controlled by the law of the Holy Spirit. That law gives me life because of what Christ Jesus has done. It has set me free from the law of sin that brings death.

The written law was made weak by our sinful nature. But God did what the written law could not do. He made his Son to be like those who have a sinful nature. He sent him to be an offering for sin. In that way, he judged sin in his Son's human body.  Now we can do everything the law requires. Our sinful nature no longer controls the way we live. The Holy Spirit now controls the way we live.

Don't live under the control of your sinful nature. If you do, you will think about what your sinful nature wants. Live under the control of the Holy Spirit. If you do, you will think about what the Spirit wants.

The way a sinful person thinks leads to death. But the mind controlled by the Spirit brings life and peace.  The sinful mind is at war with God. It does not obey God's law. It can't.  Those who are controlled by their sinful nature can't please God.

But your sinful nature does not control you. The Holy Spirit controls you. The Spirit of God lives in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ.

Christ lives in you. So your body is dead because of sin. But your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God.  The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you. So the God who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your bodies, which are going to die. He will do this by the power of his Spirit, who lives in you.

Brothers and sisters, we have a duty. Our duty is not to live under the control of our sinful nature.  If you live under the control of your sinful nature, you will die. But by the power of the Holy Spirit you can put to death the sins your body commits. Then you will live.” (NIRV)

So, as you can see, it’s the Holy Spirit that has the power to change us, not us changing ourselves!  If you could win the battle of the flesh on your own, you would have no need for God.  Realize that you cannot do this thing called life on your own.  Our minds need to be transformed.  Our way of thinking needs to be submitted to the Spirit of God.

Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  This means that you no longer live the way the world lives.  You don’t want to become so comfortable to the culture of the world that you fit right in without even thinking.  Don’t become so shaped by the world’s values that you begin to compromise the Word of God and allow sin in your life and in the church.  Sin is still sin in God’s eyes.  The sins of the Old Testament are still sin today!!!  “For I am the Lord, I change not;” (Malachi 3:6a)

If you belong to Christ, the way you think has been completely changed by the Holy Spirit.  (If not, maybe you don’t belong to Him.)  Your attention is no longer fixed on your own selfish desires and the desires of the world.  Your attention is fixed on God.  When your mind is stayed on Jesus, you will be changed from the inside out.  You will no longer desire to live a fleshly life every day except on Sunday. You will want to go to church because You love Him.  You will desire to fellowship with Him in prayer.  Reading and studying the Word will not be drudgery; you will look forward to it.  Not only will you have a new way of thinking, but a new attitude.  Then you will be able to recognize what God wants from you and quickly respond to it.  You will become a mature disciple of Christ and live a life that is good and pleasing to Him.  You will accept and submit to God on His terms.  Not on yours!  Then He will bring out the best in you and then you will experience victory over sin and abundant blessings.  Remember that God’s plans are always good and perfect.  "I know the plans I have for you," announces the Lord. "I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

There is hope my friend.  God is on your side.  And if you allow His Spirit to rule and rein in your heart and mind, there is nothing you cannot accomplish!  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  (Romans 12:1 KJV)