2026 Pentecost Devotions I
Wednesday, July 1
Romans 7:15-25a
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25a Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
“… 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do …”
“I realize I shouldn’t do this, but…”
“I know I shouldn’t say this, but…”
“I understand that this is wrong, but…”
My guess is, like me, you’ve used these or similar phrases to justify doing something you know is wrong. In your mind you recognized the difference between right and wrong, what is evil and what is good, but for some reason, you didn’t follow your mind’s directive.
That’s what Paul’s getting at in this passage from Romans 7. He comprehends God’s commands – the laws given by God directing us in love toward God and love of neighbor. Yet, as he explains, the very good he intends is not what he sees happening in his life. Instead, what he witnesses in himself is evil – against God’s commands.
Thankfully, for Paul and for us, we don’t always have to get it right. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have been delivered from the requirement that we must always do the right thing. It’s not that we intend evil, but when it inevitably happens, God readily forgives and does not withhold life and salvation – not because we are so good, but because Jesus died and rose for us.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gift of forgiveness and new life. Help me to do better this day that Your will may be done on earth. Amen.