The Struggle (and Victory) Is Real

December 3, 2018

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. Romans 6:24-25

Have you ever had this experience? You are absolutely worn out, and your eyes itch with the proverbial sand. You feel your eyes rolling back in your head, and every few minutes you are startled as your head drops down to your chest—you have drifted off right in the middle of this conversation that is fascinating several others. But YOU just can’t stay awake. You jerk your head up, smile, and try to look semi-intelligent as you covertly look around the circle to see who might have seen your embarrassing drift. But unfortunately, despite your struggle to engage, in a few minutes, you are nodding off again. Oh, what a miserable person you are! You are fighting a battle that seems impossible to win.

Struggling to perform in a way that goes against your natural inclinations is always miserable. But when it is something far bigger than fighting sleep, it’s a misery that can’t be cured by a night or two of rest. Struggling to be free from the domination of sin and the death it brings is inexpressible misery. It’s an endless cycle of fail, try harder, fail, and repeat. The hopelessness that accompanies the struggle adds to the misery of the failure.

As Paul experienced the reality of the struggle, he found and shared that the victory is not in what we do, but in Who we know. It is found in the daily relationship available to us with Jesus Christ, the One who broke the power of sin over us. Our natural inclination is to be ruled by sin, a terrible master. But our supernatural opportunity is to be transformed and triumph over sin and death through Jesus.

The victory is not in new coping skills, or behavior modification, motivation, or even religion. The victory is Jesus. The struggle is real, but so is the victory.

  • Where have you continually failed in the sin struggle?
  • What have you tried to help you fight your natural inclinations?
  • Jesus is calling you to a close relationship, a daily walk with Him. He is the way to victory. Talk to Him about that now. How can you make your relationship with Him THE priority of your life?