Oh me! I am controlled by Pleasure and Pain! I give in to those things that I should not be giving into because they feel good. I avoid those things that will help me in the long run because they hurt in the short run.

I often run towards Pleasure when I shouldn’t and run away from Pain when I should endure it. My life is really that simple sometimes.

I can really identify with the Apostle Paul who said, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” (Romans 7:15)

So how am I suppose to live? Paul has the answer in the next verse, “I don’t do what I want to do, but I agree that God’s standards are good.”

The answer to how I should live – follow God’s Biblical Principles. I need to learn to follow Principles even when Pleasure and Pain are screaming for me to do something else.

OK, but following Principles is hard and I can’t do them for long.

The only hope I have to follow Principles for any length of time is to continually ask for God’s Presence to give me the Power to follow them.

Wow, I am starting to get tired of all these Ps. So I end by praying, “God, help me to give up pursuing 2 wrong P’s for three right P’s – Presence, Power, and Principles.”