Longing for What We Cannot Be for Ourselves

Feb 22

Romans 7:24–25

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

Paul’s cry is not theatrical. It is honest. He knows what is right and he desires what is good. Yet something within resists.

This is the tension of the human heart. Willing, but weak. Awakened, but inconsistent. Hungry for righteousness, yet unable to produce it in full.

Romans 7 is not despair without hope. It is exposure. The law reveals the requirements. Conscience confirms what we know to be true. And experience humbles us.

And then comes the turning point.

Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

The answer is not that we are stronger. It is not deeper self-analysis or another human king.

It is rescue.

The longing that we feel is not accidental. It is preparatory. The ache itself is mercy. Because once we admit we cannot be for ourselves what we were made to be, we are finally ready to receive what grace provides.

The heart has reached its limit. And that is exactly where grace begins.

Selah.