Daily Recovery

Daily Recovery

Bible Reading: Romans 7:18-25

We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

We may feel like we’re just no good. Deep down inside there is a sense of brokenness that is a constant reminder of our humanity. Hopefully, we’ll get to a place where our behavior is under control and we’ll be able to maintain sobriety. But we should always be aware that as long as we’re in this human body, we’ll have to contend with our lower nature.

Paul said of himself, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. . . . There is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (Romans 7:18, 23). King David described God’s tenderness toward us because of our human condition: “The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass” (Psalm 103:13-15).

No matter how far we progress, our lower nature will always be inclined toward and susceptible to the lure of our addictions. We can’t afford to forget this or let down our guard. Paul wrote, “Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Romans 13:14, NKJV). It is this realization that should convince us that maintaining sobriety is something we will need to nurture for the rest of our lives, one day at a time.

We will always be tempted by our old lives; but we need not always fall prey to them.