Daily text, Tuesday, June 5. 2018

[Queen Esther]

 

I have the desire to do what is fine but not the ability to carry it out.—Rom. 7:18.

Many of us had to make significant changes prior to our baptism in order to bring our life into harmony with the Bible’s basic requirements. After baptism, we discerned the need to continue making changes—more subtle ones—so as to imitate God and Christ more closely. (Eph. 5:1, 2; 1 Pet. 2:21) For instance, we may have noted in ourselves a critical spirit, a fear of man, a tendency toward harmful gossip, or some other weakness. Has making progress in this regard proved to be harder than we expected? Remember, we are still imperfect. (Col. 3:9, 10) It is therefore unrealistic to expect that after baptism—or even after many years in the truth—we will no longer make mistakes, experience setbacks, or be troubled with wrong motives and inclinations. Certain tendencies might persist for years.—Jas. 3:2. w16.05 4:3-5

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2018/6/5