The Cycle of Wretchedness

Romans 7:15-25
Here's how the process works: First I am doing the very things I hate, not what I would like to do and I don't understand why. Though I long to follow that good law something deeper is controlling me. That thing is sin. So I see that my flesh is shot through with sin. I have this spiritual longing to do good but wind up practicing the very evil that I hate. It's as if sin takes on a life of it's own. So I conclude that I want to follow God's law one moment and the next thing I know my body wages war on what I know to be right. I am a wretched prisoner to a body that belongs to the realm of sin and death. Now that I realize what a hopeless situation I am in I start looking outside of me for hope. I can now say, "Thank you God. You have provided a way out through Jesus who you've designated to take over my life.