The Oxford Dictionary defines an excuse as “a reason or explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense.” Indeed, we human beings are great at making excuses. This is particularly true when it comes to the goals we set for ourselves. Every year, we set goals for ourselves, whether financial, health, career, or relational. Months after setting our goals, we often find ourselves no further along than we were when we set our goals. Suddenly, we make excuse after excuse in order to give reasons for why we have not made progress in the goals we set. The truth is, when we make excuses, we are only fooling ourselves. If we want to reach the goals we set and grow, we have to stop making excuses and acknowledge that we need help.
The apostle Paul understood his struggle to live out his God-honoring desires and he wrote about it in Romans 7. In this passage of Scripture, he wrote, "I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate" (verse 15). We can all relate to Paul's sentiment in this passage of Scripture. We often have great intentions. We want to obey Christ. We want to honor Him in everything we do. We set goals to become healthier people mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Despite wanting to do these things, we often find ourselves giving in to sin and doing the exact opposite of what we wanted to do. In short, we cannot live the God-honoring lives that we desire to live on our own. When we acknowledge this truth, we can take the first step toward healing.
If we want to grow in our faith or set goals, we first need to acknowledge the areas where we are struggling. We need to admit that we need help and that we cannot do it on our own. Acknowledging our weaknesses and inability to live the way we want to live is the first step in receiving the help that God offers all who turn to Him.
What is keeping you from reaching your goals and growing in the ways that you need to grow? Maybe you are not managing your time well. Maybe you are finding yourself distracted by a hobby, social media, or even too much time watching television. Whatever it is that is keeping you from growing and reaching your goals, confess it to God now. Admit that you need help in order to grow and live in a way that honors Him.
1Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? 2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
