Living Beyond Myself

I know for me that it takes a conscious effort to live a life that is about others and not about me. It is not something that comes natural to me, nor is it my default way to live. It is only possible as I try to walk in the Spirit and to follow His promptings. I must make moent-by-moment choices to live beyond myself. But eventhough I know this about myself and I know the right thing to do often I'll still choose myself over others.

My struggle was Paul's struggle as he wrote about in Romans 7:

Romans 7:19-25 (ESV)
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Thank God for grace!