WHY DO I DO WHAT I DON'T WANT TO DO?
Breaking Free - Part 1 of 8
Romans 7:15-25
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. The Message
Recently, I received an e-mail that really caught my attention. It was in strong red
and blue coloring. It said, "If you ever secretly felt fat, skinny, lazy, compulsive
or depressed this message is for you!" It continued, "Your life can be changed for
only $29.95 plus $3 for shipping and handling."
When I get that kind of stuff I wonder who pays attention to it? Obviously somebody
does! We're looking for anything that will change our lives, help us get in control,
and we're willing to pay the price.
What is it that you have a hard time controlling in your life? Your temper? One wife
said, "My husband is so temperamental! Ninety percent temper, ten percent mental." How
about your spending? A bumper sticker read: "The person who says money can't buy
happiness just doesn't know where to shop." Eating? Drinking? Sexual desires?
Procrastinating? What bad habits have control of your life?
Over the next seven weeks we're going to be in a sermon series about how to get rid of
and how to let go of the hang ups, the hurts, and the habits that mess up our lives.
This morning I want to begin by laying a foundation. I want to look at the problem in
our lives, God's promise of freedom, and the procedure for getting started.
I. THE PROBLEM: Paul summarizes it in Romans 7:15-16, 18 (The Message)
"What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another,
doing things I absolutely despise. 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. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better
of me every time."
Can you relate to this? Jesus said (Mark 14:37) "The spirit is willing but the flesh
is weak." Have you ever started a new habit or broken a bad habit only, in a few weeks,
to be back in the same position? Good intentions are seldom good enough. The results
are predictable: confusion, frustration, and defeat. You can see it all in Paul’s words.
Paul says, "My own behavior baffles me. Why do I keep making the same mistakes? Why
can't I figure out why do I do what I don't want to do? Why do I keep on acting in ways
that I know are bad for me?" That’s confusion.
Paul goes on to say, "I have the desire to do what's right, but not the power." Can
you relate? That's the problem with self-help books: they tell you what to do but they
don't give you the power. No self help book can give you the power to change. Paul says,
"Don't just tell me what to do, give me the power." That’s frustration.
Paul says, "It's an agonizing situation. Who can set me free from this prison I’m in?
I'm losing the battle. My life is a mess, a failure. I just can't change! There are
things in my life I wish I could change but I just don't have the power!" That’s defeat.
If you've felt this way, have I got good news for you! You can change. The power is there. You can
change. The Bible makes the principles very, very clear.
II. GOD'S PROMISE: Jesus said, "...When you know the truth, the truth will set you free." Circle
"set you free". Notice that the secret to personal change is not will power. Will power alone
doesn't work. Jesus said that the way you break free from a hurt or a hang up is by knowing the truth.
Most of our bad behavior is based on things that aren’t true. We’re believing something
about our self that isn't true, something about others that isn't true, something about God
that isn't true, something about success or failure that isn't true, something about life
that isn't true, something about our past that isn't true. If you want to change the way you
act, you've got to have the truth.
Jesus said "When you know the truth, the truth will set you free." In the next seven weeks
we're going to expose and challenge some of the untruths and faulty misconceptions that keep
us bound. I hope it will be a liberating series. Jesus said "When you know the truth, the
truth will set you free."
III. THE PRESCRIPTION: Today I want to talk with you about three things you need to do to get
started. Before we can talk about anything else in the weeks ahead we've got to lay the foundation.
There are three things you need in order to break free from any problems in your life.
First, ACKNOWLEDGE the root of your problem. This is the starting point. No matter what you want
to change in your life you must first acknowledge the real problem. The Bible says that our basic
problem is a word you don’t hear much about any more. We don’t like to talk about it. However,
it is at the heart of our problems: SIN.
Sin is an attitude that says, "I'm in charge and I don't need God." That's the basic attitude at the
heart of all our problems. No matter what my problem is, no matter what your problem is, behind it
all is a basic attitude that says, "I'm in charge and I don't need God." It's an attitude that has
been around since Adam and Eve. "I'm going to ignore God and go do my own thing." That’s sin!
I John 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
In order to finally get rid of all of these things that are causing hang ups and hurts to grow in our
lives, we must first stop pretending that we have no problem.
In fact, we do. Jesus said in John 8:34 "Everyone who commits sin is its slave!" Whatever you
refuse to admit enslaves you. The first step to breaking free is to admit it. "I've got a problem.
I've got areas in my life that are out of control. I can't control them on my own. I thought I was
in charge and I've been trying to solve my problems without God. It’s not working. I can't get
control. I have the desire to change but I don't have the power. I need help" Well, friends, help
in on the way.Second, BELIEVE that Christ can change you. Romans 7:24-25 says, "Who can free me
from this prison...? I thank God there is a way out through Jesus Christ our Lord." Jesus has the
truth you are seeking. He has the power you are lacking. You may not have the power to change,
but God does. God has all the power in the world. Christ wants to help you change. He wants to
help you get over those hang ups and habits, but you've got to believe that Christ can change you.
That's exactly what Paul said in Romans 8:2. "For the new spiritual principle of life in Jesus
Christ lifts me out of the old vicious circle of sin..." There is a way out. If I look in my back
yard one day and see a dead bird on the ground, I could pick it up and say, "Fly, bird, fly!"
I could even toss it into the air, but it would come right back down. Why? Because it's dead!
I could spread its wings and toss it up over and over, but it would fall back every time.
Good intentions wouldn’t be enough. The only thing that could make that bird fly would be
a new life. That's what Paul's saying here. God wants to give us the power to change and
new life, and that is a truth that will set us free.
If we want to change, we need to acknowledge our sin and believe that Christ can change us.
Finally, COMMIT all you are to Christ. Commit all that you are - the good, the bad, the ugly, the
hurts, the habits, the hang ups - to Jesus. Maybe you’re thinking, "Give me one good reason
why I ought to do that." OK: Because you've tried everything else and nothing else works.
Friends, there are millions and millions of people throughout history who are living proof that he
changes lives in ways no one else can.
2 Cor. 5:17 "When anyone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same
anymore. A new life has begun!" This is real change. Paul said in 2 Tim. 1:7 "The Spirit God gives us
doesn't make us timid; instead his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control." God wants to
give you enough power to make the changes you need to make, enough love to build lasting relationships,
enough self-control to stop defeating yourself.
My question to you is, are you tired of trying to change your life and always coming up short? Are you
tired of trying to do the right thing, only to fall back again into bad habits? My advise to you is to
stop trying and start trusting!
Friends, you have a choice about how to handle your life. You can depend on yourself or you can depend
on God. Either way you've got to live with the results: frustration or freedom. God says it's
up to you. Today can be a turning point in your life. It doesn't matter where you've been, what
matters is the direction you are headed right now. You don't have to be the same. You can change.
You can break free from your past and become new, if you will just plug into God's power.
Next week I’ll be talking about how to break free from one of the biggest problems most of us have,
one that is at the root of most of our other problems: pride. Until then, keep on seeking the power
of God for change in your life! Amen.
