NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

July 28

Scripture focus: I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself--after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. Romans 7:14-25 (The Message)

Abuse of any kind is a terrible thing. Whether spiritual, physical, verbal or emotional -- all abuse is an affront against God's command to love him with all our prayer, passion and intelligence and love others in the same manner. It's easy to throw stones at the bad guys in stories of abuse.

I want to remind us of something. Sometimes we're the bad guys and we may not recognize that about ourselves.

Things go wrong deep within us, but we may not recognize our wayward ways. We may not realize the rage that shows on our faces, or is manifested when we behave passive-aggressively towards another. Like Adam and Eve, we try to find some clever fig leaf to cover our compulsion to control, intimidate or manipulate another person.

What if we are the bad guys and don't know it? Here's a thought -- we can ask God to show us the truth about ourselves. We can ask him to reveal ways we've rejected, ignored, terrorized, isolated or corrupted others. We can ask him to point out when we are behaving in ways that are controlling, intimidating or manipulative of others.

It's hard to face the truth about our own selfishness when it's so easy to point out ways that others have hurt us. But I'm praying that today's scripture passage will remind us that the answer, thank God, is that Jesus can and does set things right in our life -- even when we're the bad guys.

Recommended reading: 1 Samuel 25-27

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