Seventh Day Baptist
Christian Education Council
PO BOX 1678
Janesville, WI 53547
—Romans 7:14-19
by: Leanne Lippincott.
I take comfort when I read that Paul, a mighty man of God, had the same struggles I have. Why do we do those things that we detest, while refraining from doing what is good? Are we just lazy or do we lack willpower? I always have a ton of excuses: “I don’t have time to bake a pie for my sick neighbor.” “I don’t have the money to send flowers to a shut-in.” Then a still, small voice whispers, “Take some store-bought cookies to that neighbor. Send a card of encouragement to that shut-in.”
A famous American comedian, Flip Wilson, had a trademark phrase: “The devil made me do it.” We laughed when he said that, but it has a ring of truth. It’s the sin living in all of us that keeps us from becoming the people God intended us to be.