Romans 7:15-20
“For that which I do, I don’t know. For what I desire, that I don’t practice; but what I hate, that I do. But if I do that which I don’t desire, I consent to the law that it is good. So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing; for a desire to do that which is good is present with me, but I don’t find it so as to do it. For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice. But if I do that which I don’t desire, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.”
The Apostle Paul is writing to believers in Rome, likely in the mid-1st century CE. In this part of his letter, he is exploring the relationship between God's law, sin, and human experience, often speaking from a deeply personal perspective about the inner conflict between knowing what is good and actually doing it.
When does your own experience feel like an inner battle between what you intend and what you actually do?