Why Can't I Do What I Want To Do?

Don't you want to be better person? I don't mean that we're bad people, but that we desire to grow and develop our character. Do you like who you are? I like me a lot more now than I did 40 years ago! Do you have a list of things you'd like changed? Here are a few of mine:

• I can still get angry when offended. Clear thinking doesn't result from anger! I'd like to rise above anger.
• I don't like traditional approaches to anything. Maybe because I'm an auditor, or because of my rigid upbringing, I challenge everything. I'd like to be able to accept some things.
• My love and respect for others is conditional. Behave badly and I'll judge you. I have no right to do that. Hurt me and I want to hurt you back.
• Justify yourself like I used to, or like how I still want to, and I can tell you what's wrong with your life! That's called pride.
• I can't identify very well with the needs of others. I have a mental understanding but I don't often feel much empathy. I'd like to put the needs of others first.
  
  

And that's not the bad stuff! Sometimes, the harder we work to change the way we are the harder it gets! The reason is that while we can modify some of our behavior, changing our hearts by our own strength is impossible! Why? The Apostle Paul laments about this in the Bible, Romans 7:15: "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." In vs. 17, he makes a statement many find hard to believe, "...it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me."

Sin dwelling in us! Not me! How about you? This is the reason we need a Savior! We can't accomplish lasting changes in our character by our own strength. Change begins on the inside, not the outside. Only Jesus Christ can change our hearts!