Mackenzie Rice

Romans 7:14-15, 19-20 (CEB)
We know that the Law is spiritual, but I’m made of flesh and blood, and I’m sold as a slave to sin. I don’t know what I’m doing, because I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do the thing that I hate… I know that good doesn’t live in me—that is, in my body. The desire to do good is inside of me, but I can’t do it. I don’t do the good that I want to do, but I do the evil that I don’t want to do.

Proverbs 16:1-3, 9 (CEB)
To people belong the plans of the heart, but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord. All the ways of people are pure in their eyes, but the Lord tests the motives. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will succeed… People plan their path, but the Lord secures their steps.

Reflection:
We often hear the mantra, “You can do anything you set your mind to.” And we believe it… until it all falls apart and we’re confounded, yet again, in realizing our willpower is not enough. The apostle Paul wrote a message sympathetic to all who have been dismayed at the failure of willpower to effect meaningful change in his letter to the Romans. Paul understood and taught that, as strong as our willpower may be, it is not enough to overcome all temptation nor maintain a life that honors our Lord. 

New Year’s resolutions are one way we often try to exert our willpower over our lives. We commit to new or different habits, vowing to exercise more or use our phones less, to eat better or go to bed earlier, setting our sights on a ‘perfect’ life. But, statistically, by late January our willpower has usually run out, demonstrating that it is not strong enough to overcome our desire for comfort in the midst of a high-pressure world.

On our own, we struggle to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Society cultivates unwillingness to take up our crosses to follow Jesus. We fail, especially when only holding the sheer force of will, to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul. Willpower cannot change our desires. But a Spirit-empowered person has a change of heart; the Holy Spirit begins fueling our will with Heavenly thoughts, perspective, wisdom, and love. While there is an amount of human effort, none of us can fully live the way God wants us to live by willpower alone. God knows our willpower is not enough to keep us on the right path, so God offers to live alongside us and to be our guide. 

But none of this is done by force. God infrequently smacks us on the head with instructions. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God grants us the opportunity to examine our heart posture, to seek without assumptions, and to embrace where the Spirit leads us. We maintain the capacity to act independently of divine restraints but are never left to our own devices. 

Yes, resolutions have great potential to affect real, meaningful change and growth in our lives, but our willpower only takes us so far. The boundaries of Spirit-power are endless and beyond what we can imagine. As the proverb tells us, our plans mean nothing if they are not committed to the glory of God. So I propose a modification to the mantra: “God can do anything; set your life to be fueled by the Spirit.”

Prayer:
Awesome God, how glorious it is to have the opportunity to implement new rhythms into our lives. I pray that all I commit to is backed by the strength and stamina of the Holy Spirit, not just my own will. Help me to lean further into the Kingdom work you have in store for me by expanding your Spirit-power, the only eternal propellant to my efforts. Guide me as I commit all I do to you. Amen.