Another soul care issue I struggle with is needing what I don’t want. I need a relationship with Christ but don’t always want it, and this is the struggle that Paul describes in Romans 7. This is also a very real struggle in my life.
This conflict is rooted in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve didn’t want what they needed either, and this ultimately led to the Fall. Adam and Eve lived in an intimate relationship with God where they walked in fellowship with Him. All that was needed was obedience where their one prohibition was to not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. What they needed is not what they chose. Instead, they disobeyed and were cast out of the Garden. This is the point where most of my struggles originate and I don’t want what I need either. If I did, I wouldn’t struggle with sinful choices.
1 John 2: 5 – 17: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The hard work of soul care in my life includes remembering that I will not always want what I need. I must make soul decisions based upon what I need, not what I want and deciding between the two often means discerning what is good, acceptable and perfect in His sight.
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