Head or Heart?

Read Romans 8:5-11

Paul wrote, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."
-Romans 7:15 (NRSV)

MY brother's grandson loved to have his grandpa babysit him. But Grandpa, weary of urging the child to prepare for bed, asked, "Don't you want to obey me?"

The youngster, sitting among his toys, replied sadly, "I want to, but my head doesn't want to."

The child's answer reveals a problem familiar also to adults. We allow some self-serving notion to enter our heads when we know in our hearts the better way. The apostle Paul confesses to wrestling with a similar dilemma when he grieves, "I do the very thing I hate." Paul goes on to say that we, as believers, "are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in [us]" (Rom. 8:9, niv).

I have come to realize that this kind of inner conflict may be an invitation to relinquish our headstrong ways and make room for the Holy Spirit to act. When we allow God's love to direct us, we will find our conflict ended. And we can have God's peace within.

by Hazel Keenan Schrum (Ontario, Canada)