As I pulled into the grocery store, my first-grader said, “Mom, why is it so hard to be good?”

Wow, I thought. My young son grasped what many adults miss: good desires alone aren’t enough to make us good.

Unlike Brant, I grew up thinking I was basically good because I wanted to be good. It wasn’t until after I became a Christian in middle school that I recognized how often I failed to follow through on my good intentions.

I have an impatient bent. Every night before bed, in high school, I promised myself that tomorrow would be better. I vowed to reign in my temper. And every day I failed. When I read Paul’s struggle in Romans 7, I knew He was describing me.Continue Reading