A Habit of Mind

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (Rom 6:12)

This sentence contains several remarkable thoughts. First, that even in the life of a believer sin might “reign in your mortal body.” Second, that it is my choice whether or not it does so, since Paul exhorts us “Do not let sin reign.” Third, that the evil desires which lead to sin belong not to me, so to speak, but to my “mortal body.” As Paul explains later in Rom 7:16-17, “And if I do what I do not want to do…it is no longer I myself who do it but sin living in me.” That is, as a believer my heart belongs to God and that which is most truly and essentially me yearns to obey him. Nevertheless I yield to fleshly temptations and sin. I believe the battleground between heart and flesh is the mind. Where will I let my thoughts dwell? On Jesus Christ and his righteousness or on the fleeting pleasures of sin? When I sin, the pattern is always that consciously or unconsciously I push God out of my thoughts and let the temptation in. Whether it is worry, pride, anger or gluttony when I am sinning my thoughts are not toward God. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago the key is to cultivate a habit of mind that is focused on him, primarily through reading the Word and praying without ceasing. The habit of sin must be actively displaced by a habit of devotion to God.