Hello, my name is Gavin Bennett.

Welcome to the Bridgetown Daily for Wednesday, May 20.

In what sounds at the beginning, like a biblical version of a Dr. Sus book, the Apostle Paul

writes to the church in Rome,

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.

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

Gosh, while Paul didn't necessarily have the words for compulsive behavior, the language

he uses here masterfully describes the ache and frustration that many of us are feeling

as we're caught up in some cycle of behavior that we can't seem to will ourselves to stop.

Classic examples relate to sexuality, like pornography or masturbation, but also include

things like food, exercise, rigid scheduling, binging TV shows or movies, social media, you

get the idea.

A really helpful way of thinking about compulsions is like an appetite.

First, our compulsions focus on getting more and getting that more in variety.

But also, you can't starve an appetite.

You have to feed it something, even if that something isn't necessarily what it seems

to want.

But more on this in a bit.

...