^“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.  What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Romans 7:22-25(NIV)

Despite God’s law being written in all our hearts giving us a conscience to know right and wrong, we find ourselves gravitating towards sin. We cannot hope to achieve God’s righteousness on our own efforts because our human nature keeps sabotaging us. We want to go free but we go in the chains of our nature, training, customs, conventions, associations, and our environment. By our own strength, we struggle in vain against these bonds. As Paul tells us, it is only through the power provided by faith in Christ that we can overcome our inclinations and produce good fruits for our Lord.  Christ renews our hearts and minds so that we can willingly seek to do God’s will.

The Christmas season provides a lot of temptation to seek enjoyment in ways that may not be pleasing to the Lord. Do not get carried away by all the hype and glitter. Maintain your eyes on Jesus, the reason for the season. He will fill you with the spirit of discernment so that your celebration of his birth does not cause Him grief.

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"Feed on Christ, and then go and live your life, and it is Christ in you that lives your life, that helps the poor, that tells the truth, that fights the battle, and that wins the crown." Philips Brooks (Biography)
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