War Within

We have hit that stage of development for our kids where they are occasionally at war with each other. The other day, Leslie started putting notes up on her door saying (she tells us) "Leslie's Room, no Kennas allowed." And then helpfully put up a "Kenna's Room, no Leslies allowed" on her sister's door. So all is not lost.
But it does make me think about why we have a natural tendency to go to war with each other. I mean, the first sin (OK, the second after the actual Fall) was a brother killing a brother. Since then, we have warred and fought with each other in deserts and seas and fields and on Fox News.
Maybe we are so warlike because we are at war with ourselves, fighting the urges and feelings of our sinful nature, and it just oozes out of us. We devise rules for ourselves to protect ourselves from ourselves, then impose them on others who do not see the need. It resulted in the Crusades , and the Baptist Doctrine against dancing which just recently got a student suspended from a Christian school for going to another school's prom.
Romans 7 talks about this war within, and the fact that we know what is right, yet feel the need to do what is wrong. It wasn't easy for Paul, and it sure isn't easy for me. It's like blogging- I know I should, cuz I have this, but I don't, because I would rather Facebook, or watch TV or whatever. So in an effort to have something worthwhile to put up here, for the next few weeks, I'll blog a bit about the series we're doing at the Gate. Because what we need to have to do the right thing is more motivation than we have to do the wrong thing.