Mind Games

We wrote in a recent post about the risk of being a hypocrite. You can do it in many ways. You might play poker privately online, while railing against those who play in public. Or you might be discourteous at the table in one way, while complaining about those are do it in a different way.

An apostle in the Bible realized he could be guilty of that very thing - and perhaps at times felt he actually was. At one point he wrote:

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. - Romans 7:21

They're competing thoughts, battling for the same brain.

...But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. - Romans 7:23

Knowing what to do, versus actually doing it. Does that describe you? Truth be told, it describes many of us - and the "law of sin" leads to death (Romans 6:23). But Paul found a solution to that dilemma....

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. - Romans 8:1-2

God provided the solution through His Son, who became a "sin offering" for us (verse 3).

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.... - Romans 8:9

You can have the Holy Spirit of God by repenting of your sins and being baptized (Acts 2:38). The mind games you face at poker tables might not disappear completely. But if you're walking with God and studying His Word, they should become easier to handle.