Romans 7:15 For that which I am working out, I do not know; for I am not performing what I desire, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
We have everything we need to live a godly life; however, often times we find ourselves doing the things we do not want to do and not doing the things we desire to do. What causes this conflict within a Christian?
Have you ever had a situation where you are praying, worshiping, or reading your bible and inappropriate thoughts keep entering your head? Is God real? Does God hear me? …
The thought life of a Christian is a battleground between doing what is right and doing what is wrong. All of our actions start within our thoughts. In our minds, many different desires come to us every day. We are not going to do all of these desires. Perhaps the desire is out of our reach - going to the moon - or we chose to another desire – rather than having pizza tonight, I will have a salad. Many of these desires are normal every day desires that make it possible for us to make it through the day. After all, how would we determine to get dressed in the morning, go to work, eat lunch, go home or all of the many other things we do throughout the day without desiring to do so? A desire is not always something you enjoy doing. You may not want to get up in the morning to go to work but you know you have to so you determine to do it. You still had to have the though come into your head for you to go to work and determine to do so, otherwise you would have stayed at home today. We must desire something before we do anything.
Because our thought life is so important, our enemies are going to attack us through our thoughts. You see, if one of your enemies can change the way you are thinking, it can cause you to do what it desires rather than what you desire.
There are three enemies that all Christians have: Satan and his demons; the world system; and the sin nature. Each one of these enemies begins by affecting your thinking. Satan may whisper suggestions into your thoughts or change your circumstances to get you to accept his desires as your own, John 8:44. The world system is going to attract you through your eyes and ears to lull you to sleep, 1 John 5:19. And the sin nature is going to attack you through your soul, 1 Peter 2:11. The whole purpose of these attacks is to get you to determine to do your enemies desires rather than God's desires.
Temptation, which is a solicitation to do something that lacks in character, comes from one of our three enemies. Each time we are tempted, we have a choice. Do we accept the desire, which lacks in character, as our own and seek to fulfill it, or do we reject it.
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