April 3, how to respond when you falter.

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing,

Romans 7, 19.

Christians do not live only in defeat, but neither do we live only in perfect victory over

sin.

And in those times, when we fail to triumph over sin, Romans 7, 13 to 25 shows us the normal

way a healthy Christian should respond.

We should say, 1, I love the law of God, verse 22, 2, I hate what I just did, verse 15,

3, wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death, verse 24.

Thanks be to God, the victory will come through Jesus Christ our Lord, verse 25.

In other words, no Christian wants to live in defeat, no Christian settles for living

in defeat.

But if we are defeated for a time, we shouldn't lie about it, no hypocrisy, no posing, no

boasted perfectionism, no churchy pasted smiles or chipper superficiality.

And even more, God save us from the blindness to our own failures and the consequent

quickness to judge others.

God help us to feel worse about our own shortfalls than the failure of others.

God give us the honesty and candor and humility of the Apostle Paul in this text, wretched

man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 7, 24 to 25.