Day 2004 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Romans 7:15 NIV

Some days, like yesterday, you just don't feel like you can manage to accomplish anything. Others, like today, you put on a little Skillet Music, head to the gym, and get weird for a little while. Feels awesome to get back in the swing of things after just not feeling quite myself for a little bit. And one of their songs, Monster, left me thinking about something that I know we all deal with pretty often in life. We know what's right and what's wrong. But no matter what it just seems like we still make the worst choice more often than we should.

Like I said, I know we've all been there and that we're all still a work in progress. I know that I've personally dealt with this one countless times in my life, and I have no problem at all in admitting that. I have made far more bad choices than good ones. I've done more things that I knew were wrong than I can remember. I've said and done things that I absolutely hate without catching myself. And sadly, I still catch myself doing it.

But something hit me today that I don't remember thinking before. We have all been raised in this world. We've been taught what's important by other humans who have the same issues that we do. We've been spoon-fed our definitions of right and wrong according to what this world has deemed to be so. Therefore, it's not that we're incapable of making the right choices more often, it's just that we've grown up learning how to make all the wrong ones.

So it's a matter of having to unlearn all the broken and messed up ways that we've been taught by the broken and messed up society that we've been learning from for so long. And then we have to relearn the truth and what is really right and wrong in God's definition. You see, His way and the world's way are about as different as you can get. So we've been seeing all these things going on around us and now we have to start over and learn His way.

It's a process, a journey. It's just one of those things that takes time. We've spent all our lives seeing, hearing, and learning all the wrong things. So we have to understand that it's going to take some time to undo all the wrongs that this world has taught us, and replace them with the lessons that God needs us to learn. We have to be patient and stay determined to see this change through in our lives. Going from a life of endless sin to one where we continually fight against it is a massive learning experience.

Don't expect to just start getting everything right because you now call yourself a Christian. Don't expect your life to change overnight because you've listened to some Christian songs or cracked open a Bible a few times. It's about growth. It's about continually trying even though we're going to mess up. It's about not getting frustrated or disappointed whenever those mistakes do happen. It's realizing that we have a lot to unlearn and relearn the right way.

It really is a confusing and often frustrating adventure. But if we stay focused and keep working to do better and better, then we're going to get there. We'll never be perfect, but if we keep at and don't give up, then we will be better. So don't get so mad at yourself whenever you do something wrong. It's not the end of the world, and as long as you're still breathing then you have a chance to do better next time. Cut yourself some slack, you're trying to grow in the right direction. So you're lapping all those people who don't care and won't try!