Verse from Romans

“因为我所作的，我不明白；我所愿意的，我没有去作，我所恨恶的，我倒去作。”

罗马书 7:15

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

Romans 7:15

There are many who ask this question: “I’ve been a Christian nearly my whole life, but I’m constantly disappointed in myself. Why is it that I always seem to keep doing the things I wish I didn’t do and never seem to do the things I know I should? Isn’t God getting tired of me?”

Do you have this kind of question too? 

That’s a common struggle that even the apostle Paul experienced. “I do not understand what I do,” he said, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Rom. 7:15). But here’s some good news: We don’t have to stay in that trap of discouragement. 

To paraphrase Paul as he writes in Romans 8, the key is to stop focusing on the law and start focusing on Jesus. We can’t do anything about our sinfulness in our own strength. The answer is not “try harder to be good at keeping the rules.” Instead, we must focus on the One who shows us mercy and cooperate with the Spirit who changes us.

When we focus on the law, we are constantly reminded that we’ll never be good enough to deserve God’s grace. But when we focus on Jesus, we become more like Him.

I sometimes get caught in the cycle of trying harder to be good, 

failing, getting discouraged, and giving up. 

Help me, Lord, 

to depend on Your grace and to draw near to You so that You can change my heart.

Focus on Jesus.