You Can’t Make Me

Not many of us are fond of being ‘told’ what to do. When we were small children we grew up hearing our parents or teachers tell us to do this or don’t do that. Most simply complied obediently, except for maybe the ‘strong willed’ child who may have had to be strongly coerced. The child who was sitting down on the outside but standing up on the inside. The one that everybody said would grow up to be a strong leader someday.

As we got a bit older, our wills became stronger and our way seemed to make more sense – at least to us it did. Eventually we grew up and broke free of the oppressive regime of our parents and lived our lives as we pleased. That is… until we got a job where our boss told us what to do, or our landlord told us we couldn’t have pets at the apartment, or our H.O.A. told us what color we were allowed to paint our garage. Even our government tells us we have to pay taxes or we can’t go fishing or drive a car without a licence.

We might long for the day when we retire and nobody can tell us what to do ever again. We will sleep in and stay up late. We will eat cereal for dinner and put our drinks on the end table without using a coaster. What rebels we will be! Free from the constraints of civilized society. That is – until they take away our drivers licence and make us live in a home for the feeble and decrepit.

Interestingly enough, we sometimes make statements like, “I try to be good, but he or she makes me so mad!”, “I would have been on time, but traffic made me late”, or the ultimate deflection – “the devil made me do it!” We use the excuse that something else made us do something, thereby freeing ourselves from the responsibilities of our actions. It’s not my fault because it wasn’t my decision.

I once told my pastor that I was really trying to be a ‘good’ christian, but my wife and my kids were always making me mad, thereby ruining my attempt to walk in righteousness. If it weren’t for other people I’d be doing everything perfectly. What my pastor told me blew my mind. He said, “Nobody can make you angry, you’re already angry – they are just revealing to you what is already inside of you.”

I didn’t like that answer at all. Was he telling me that It was my responsibility to deal with my own issues? Was the root of my anger management issue something deep inside of me that I had not dealt with and as a result was I allowing it to destroy those around me? Did I have the ultimate choice to decide how I would respond to the actions or words of others?

I remember him telling me that Jesus never had to say he was sorry, he never had to apologize for saying or doing the wrong thing. The carnal man (flesh) reacts, but the Spirit responds. Reaction happens automatically, response is a choice! As much as I hated hearing these things I recognized them as words of truth, as the voice of the Shepherd to his sheep. I could choose not the react in anger, I could respond in love. I could choose to leave a little early to avoid being late. I could quit blaming the devil for the evil I allow myself to partake of and assume accountability for my own actions.

It’s amazing to me how much of our lives we spend resisting being told what to do, but we take orders from our sinful nature so readily. The apostle Paul said it best in Romans chapter 7:

¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

Romans 7:19 New International Version

In Romans chapter 8, Paul reveals the obligation that we have as children of God:

¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 8:12-13 New International Version

The answer is to live our lives in tune with the Spirit of God and by the Spirit, crucify our nature on a daily basis. To do this we have to first recognize the battle raging within us and be vigilant to strike down the urge to react carnally, and decide to respond spiritually at all times. I’m not claiming that I have arrived, nor that I have emerged victoriously from every skirmish, yet I know ultimately that the battle belongs to the Lord and He will triumph in the end! I recognize that the true enemy originates from inside me, not the people around me. I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back! I have decided. You can’t make me because I live for the One who made me!

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