I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Romans 7:21-8:4

Dear God, this is yet another passage where the chapter and verse breaks do us a disservice. Paul wrote Romans 7:25 and 8:1 as one thought. He was a slave to sin and you sent Jesus, so now there is no more condemnation for anyone who belongs to Jesus. That’s condemnation from you, but it’s also self-condemnation. It’s shame. It’s guilt.

This is what the person who pursues morality apart from you misses. They miss that none of us are good. They miss that they cannot be the moral person they strive to be. Then, when they inevitably fail to love up to the standard they themselves have set they sometimes throw in the towel in despair. Shame takes over. Hiding. Guilt. Then depression can follow that.

Father, first, thank you for giving me a path out of the holes I put myself in. Thank you for forgiving me while still calling me to press on towards you and the man you have me to be. Help me to know how to offer this to others. Give me the words, the courage to say the words, and the mercy to live the words out towards others.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen