“We are not Perfect”

Do we ever feel like we fall short of what God expects from us? Well, I imagine if we are honest there are times, we all have experienced that feeling (my hand is up). Don’t lose heart because, Paul dealt with this same feeling. As we see in Romans 7:15.

Romans 7:15 (NIV).

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

This revealed that Paul was dealing with internal struggles of living the Christian life. We deal with the same thing at times. Living the Christian life is tough, Paul realized there is a battle going on within each of us.

Romans 7:21-23 (NIV)

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

We need Jesus’ help to live the Christian life. We never should act so spiritual and perfect in our behavior. We should aim for honesty and dependence on Jesus to walk the Christian life. Jesus knows we will have struggles but thank goodness for His Grace and Mercy. He is there to help us when we trust in Him.

Jeremiah 17:7 (NIV)

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

Message in Chinese

我们是否曾觉得自己达不到上帝对我们的期望？我想如果我们诚实面对自己，我们都会有过这样的感觉（我也是如此）。但不要灰心，因为保罗也面对过同样的挣扎，正如我们在罗马书 7:15 中所看到的。

罗马书 7:15（和合本或直译）

15 “我所做的，我自己不明白。我所愿意的，我并不去做；我所恨恶的，我倒去做。”

这节经文显示保罗在努力面对基督徒生命中的内心挣扎。我们有时也会遇到同样的情况。活出基督徒的生命并不容易，保罗意识到我们每个人里面都有一场争战。

罗马书 7:21-23（NIV）

21 “这样看来，我发现有个律：我愿意为善的时候，就有恶与我同在。22 因为按着我里面的意思，我喜欢神的律；23 但我觉得肢体中另有个律和我心中的律交战，把我掳去，叫我附从那肢体中犯罪的律。”

我们需要耶稣的帮助来活出基督徒的生命。我们从不应表现得如此属灵、如此完美。我们应当追求诚实，并倚靠耶稣来行走基督徒的道路。耶稣知道我们会有挣扎，但感谢祂的恩典和怜悯。当我们信靠祂时，祂就在那儿帮助我们。

耶利米书 17:7（NIV）

7 “倚靠耶和华、以耶和华为可信靠的，那人有福了。”

We are not Perfect