There’s so many people in the world today that will try to tell you that the only way to happiness is just, “Do what feels right!” Today’s culture whether on TikTok, Instagram, TV, the movies, or even your friends will all tell you that the most important things in life is to follow what you feel and that is where you’ll find true happiness and be fully content! However, they couldn’t be more wrong.

We constantly do things that end up hurting us and don’t make us happy, even when we do the things we “feel like” we want to do. The thing is we’re not alone in that. Paul writes in Romans 7:14-25 that he does a lot of things that he doesn’t actually want to do, and doesn’t do the things that he wants to! That sounds a lot like us today, doesn’t it? We know that we shouldn’t do certain things because it won’t be good for us, yet we have a moment where we really really really want to! And every time we do it, we end up sad and sometimes worse than before. Or like Paul says, there’s things we want to do because we know that it will be better for us! Yet, we don’t do those things either.

When Paul talks about the things we do and don’t want to do, he’s not just talking about whether or not he wants cereal for breakfast or if he wants to wear the same shoes two days in a row. No, Paul is talking about the things that God has told us to do or not to do! God’s commands for us to do or not do things, is because He knows how to ensure we have the best life possible! He made us, right? So it makes sense that we should listen to Him!

If we believe that to be true though, there’s a lot of things that God asks us to do. Unfortunately, not everything will be easy or even comfortable for us. God doesn’t just ask us to sit quietly in the corner and not say anything, He asks us to go out and do things! He tells us to go and preach His word in Mark 16:15. In Matthew 18, He tells us that we should go talk to someone if they are sinning, we have a problem with them, or even if they have a problem with us! Trust me, confronting people is not on my list of fun things to do either! The thing is though, God wants us to be a little uncomfortable. He wants us to step out of our comfort zone because that is where we grow! Even science and the world backs that up! There are all sorts of different studies, podcasts, and even books about how doing hard things is super good for us!

Our brain loves to be challenged to do new things! And that sense of accomplishment is pretty cool when we do something we never thought we could! We all have things in our lives that we know we want to do or don’t want to. The real challenge is putting aside our feelings for just a moment, so that we can truly live out of who God made us to be! And no, the answer isn’t to be a quiet couch potato who never does anything.

Weekly Challenge:

Read Romans 7:14-25, pray, and then write down some of the things you feel God is telling you to do that you don’t really want to!

Continue the Daily Worship Challenge from the last devotional!

Complete the Sunday Worship Challenge this week on Sunday!