If we are trying to live by a set of rules, it will only be a matter of time before we start to realize that we are under a curse, one which we cannot break free from, no matter how well or how hard we try to obey.
In Christ, through the Holy Spirit, there is a better Way:
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14: 6)
and then
"So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus." (Acts 13: 4)
and also
"For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." (Galatians 5: 5)
and
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (Galatians 5: 16-18)
The last verse is key -- led by the Spirit, we are not under law, because the leadings of the Holy Spirit bless our journey and the well-being of all whom God brings us into contact with, too.
To the degree that we attempt to earn what God so freely gives, to the degree that we trap ourselves in seeking to please men and not God (Galatians 1:10), to that degree do we find ourselves in great bondage, struggling like Paul:
"For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
"Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." (Romans 7: 19-20)
and then
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7: 24)
The Way is made plain for all who believe:
"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 7: 25)
In Him we receive the sound mind that breaks us free from all bondage:
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1: 7)
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