But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Rom. 7:23.NLT 

Footsteps #331. Having just declared that he loved God’s law with all his heart(v22) he reflects on the reality of our Christian walk in a fallen world. Paul understood that we are locked in deadly combat with the forces of evil. I remember one of my favourite mentors saying, “If you are not having a struggle, then you probably aren’t having a Christian experience.” The struggle is real, so don’t give up. Jesus said, “Those that persevere to the end will be saved.” (Matt24:13.) 

When God called us to be Christian people he called us to a lifetime of struggles against sin. It is all too easy for us to want to escape from that fact by declaring ourselves to be safe and sound from all temptation and struggle. But, as Paul so vividly puts it, Christians will have to battle evil for the rest of their lives. Such warfare is not easy, since it is waged against the residue of sin that resides in even converted men and women. Realism calls for rigorous preparation, constant alertness, dogged determinism, and moment-by-moment trust in Him alone who can give us victory. You will never achieve victory by yourself, but through the power of God’s grace through the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8 will talk about life in the Spirit) 

If we are to go on fighting and struggling against sin, then we are to do so with the tools made available to us, chiefly prayer, Bible study, praise, Christian fellowship, and service to others.  The apostle commands us in Ephesians 6:10 to “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power” and to “put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (v11, NIV).  

Some people suffer from the sin of goodness and in the process, they not only deceive themselves but make God a liar (see 1John 1:8 & 10). They don’t know how wretched they are. The closer we come to God the more clearly we see ourselves. The mark of converted Christians is that they see their shortcomings, repent of them, and cry out to God, “O wretched man that I am!”(v24.) That was certainly Paul’s experience, even though, as we pointed out earlier, he is talking in Romans 7 about those times when he fell rather than about the general trend of his life, which he sets forth in Romans 8. Read David’s sense of wretchedness in the face of his sin in Ps.34:8-22 

These are the cries of converted people, individuals who know God, and how wretched it is to disappoint Him. In the Christian walk, we will often have to bow at the feet of Jesus, repent and ask forgiveness.