WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GROW?

Ron Simkins – August 11, 2026 2 Comments

Ron Simkins exhorts and models continual growth, whatever our age, as we seek ongoing transformation from our broken patterns into becoming new creations- more fully human, more completely whole. May his reflection below encourage you in your daily practice of presenting ourselves to God for liberation, that we may live into our identity, through Jesus the Messiah. -Renée

A few weeks ago, Anna taught at New Covenant on the following Scripture passage from Romans 7:21-25:

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.  For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,  but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells (some translations say “is written”) in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah!

I was intrigued by her connecting Paul’s “the law of sin that dwells in my members” with the modern phrase “muscle memory.” We use that phrase to describe both good and bad habitual responses. I thanked her for the important insight and began thinking more about the connection that she made.

First, three important caveats. I am not trying to claim the Bible is a science book. I am saying it contains a lot of practical observations about reality in pre-modern science language. Second, I am not claiming that I am a scientist; so, feel free to add to or to correct anything specific that I say about modern science. I think my general point will still be made. Third, each of the areas I am about to mention in terms of their potential negative influences are also the potential source of many positive influences. A reality I intend to get back to as I conclude this blog.

I learned the importance of the positive side of “muscle memory” as a basketball player long before the phrase became popular. You didn’t want to “think” when you took a shot with the game on the line, you wanted to “trust the work you had put in” and shoot from the “muscle memory” that came from practicing. I also learned about its negative side when I would habitually reach for a cigarette during the time that I was trying to quit. Each time I did so; it increased the desire to have one, and simultaneously increased the difficulty of maintaining my goal of quitting.

So, I began to think about the documentaries I have been watching and how they might also connect with Paul’s “dwells in my members.” His way of stating his personal observation in wording that was pre-modern science. An observation that describes a very important reality.

Some documentaries and articles have talked about what is being learned about brain chemistry, and how pathways that are used become stronger while unused pathways begin to drop away. Others talk about current breakthroughs in genetics and how it is looking as though genetic makeup may at times be somewhat altered by intense experiences.

For a long time, we humans have been aware that some genetic heritages make us more susceptible to addictions, anxiety, depression, etc. More recently we have learned that experiencing these realities even further enhances the chemical pathways that accompany them. They become even more deeply “written” into our lives. Chemists are also telling us that the chemistries we are born with impact a lot of the choices we are inclined toward and those we are inclined to stay away from. Even what foods we like and those we don’t like are involved. And apparently, as we make choices that re-enforce all of these various chemical pathways, their power increases in our future choices.

And, whatever combination of the factors just mentioned, along with others we may yet discover, are the source of the “drive to survive;” it is so powerful that sometimes we humans make personal survival choices that are very selfish and very costly to others. This is definitely true of the drive to survive physically, but it is also true of the drive to survive in terms of our social status and economic status as well.

We are aware of the power of our social environments on our reflexive ways of engaging the world around us. Many studies of family dynamics show how abusive family systems tend to create reflexive responses for generations—sometimes the abused become abusers, sometimes the abused become withdrawn, sometimes the abused blame themselves, and sometimes the abused are filled with self-loathing. Our entire society is wrestling with the realities of the reflexive responses we develop as we live in the midst of a society filled with centuries of systemic racism and patriarchy—some of us determined to deny the obvious and others of us wrestling with how difficult it is to move beyond what we wish there was a quick fix for.

All of these areas, and probably many more that we will yet discover, do in fact seem to “dwell” in our bodies with great power as Paul observed long ago. The power is so great that resisting them can often be accurately described as a “war” or “battle.” Thankfully, Paul immediately followed his self-analysis of how difficult it is to “do good” even when we really do want to (Romans 7), with three positive observations.

(1) God has offered us “freedom from condemnation” through what God is doing for us through Jesus the Messiah. As we often see in others, and experience ourselves more often than we like to admit, it is difficult to be transparent about our failures if we have no solution for the accompanying guilt, guilt feelings, and shame that can accompany honestly facing up to those failures. But God is offering that liberation from condemnation (Romans 8:1-8).

(2) God (as “Abba”) is ready to work in our lives to move us toward the “image of the Messiah” by filling us with more of God’s Spirit, but it is a battle. God knows it is a battle, but God will not waste any situation—no matter how unjust and evil it is—if we commit it into God’s hands. That doesn’t mean bad things are good. It means God doesn’t waste anything we bring to the God who loves us and who we love (Romans 8:9-30).

(3) And, God has a future for us that will be free from the tension caused by what is now “written in our members.” No power in the universe can keep God from bringing about this future (Romans 8:17-39).

Later in Romans, Paul offered a bit of practical advice encouraging—“begging”—us to make it a daily practice. This practice gives God room to move us toward experiencing more and more of God’s Spirit. Paul acknowledges that it is a learning process, but there is a way to let “transformation” trump the default mechanisms of “being conformed” to all of these negative powers that are all around us and in us.

“Therefore, I am begging you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as sacrifices – living, holy and pleasing to God — this is your most reasonable way of serving God. Do not continue conforming any longer to the pattern of this present culture, but continue being transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to prove by continual testing what God’s will is—(what is) good, pleasing and mature.” (Romans 12:1-2. This is my translation. It isn’t that different from many others except it emphasizes the ongoing processes implied by the use of the Greek present tense verbs.)

So –let’s keep on presenting ourselves before God willing to keep learning how to live in, and be empowered by, God’s presence. Let’s be realistic about the lifelong battle this involves. And let’s keep growing. -Ron Simkins 8/11/26