Desire to do Good vs. Inward Battle
Strong's Greek: 19. ἀγαθωσύνη (agathosune) -- Goodness
From agathos; goodness, i.e. Virtue or beneficence -- goodness.[i]
Strong's Greek: 1937. ἐπιθυμέω (epithumeó) -- To desire, to long for ...
ἐπιθυμέω denotes an inner reaching, a focused longing originating in the will and emotions. The term can express everything from holy aspiration to destructive craving.[ii]
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. I find then a law, that, when I would do
good, evil is present with me. For
I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So
then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of
sin; Rom. 7: 19-25.
Here the passage explains the battle one
faces, between our two selves. Delighting in doing what God wants us to do, against
delighting in what we wanted to do. They are waring against each other.
Anyone
who has tried to do good is aware of this struggle. We never know how hard it
is to stop sinning until we try. “No man knows how bad he is until he has tried
to be good.” (C.S. Lewis)
The
desire to do good for others, and showing kindness to someone has a huge impact
on ourselves. When someone shows kindness to us, or saying kind words, it
changes our heart and our neurophysiology. It opens us up, and we feel
differently inside. In other words, kindness can bring tangible change in our
neurophysiology and our emotional state.
Research into
kind speech oxytocin—the connection between compassionate communication and the
release of the “bonding hormone” oxytocin—shows that our words carry biological
power. [iii]
“It is worth
bearing in mind that the great saints through the ages do not commonly say,
‘How good I am!’ Rather, they are apt to bewail their sinfulness.” (Morris)
Kindness is often seen as a simple
act. But it has a science to it. It has a complex and penetrating effects on
the body, mind, emotions and even in our social connections. Science of
kindness is not limited to individual benefits, but has ripple effect, and is
contagious. Engaging in acts of kindness can form new neural connections and
enhance the brain’s ability to process emotions and regulates stress. Emotional
Regulations is obtained much easily.
“By the body
of death he means the whole mass of sin, or those ingredients of
which the whole man is composed; except that in him there remained only relics,
by the captive bonds of which he was held.” (Calvin)
The capacity for kindness is expressed
in empathy, love, compassion, and also all the theories of the healthy mind.
Research in the field of
contemplative neuroscience has shown that kindness and related competencies can
be trained, resulting in both functional and structural neural plasticity. An initial
assessment performed by the amygdala and the components of mirror neuron system
in the inferior frontal/pre-motor and inferior parietal cortex; affective
simulation involving bilateral insula and the anterior and middle cingulate
gyrus; the cognitive component engaging the executive system for emotion
control via attention and re-appraisal in the frontoparietal and temporal
areas, and the areas associated with theory of mind in the dorsal medial prefrontal
cortex and temporo-parietal junction. Additionally, compassion, like love, has
been found to activate systems for reward and positive affect, involving
ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and the orbito-frontal cortex.[iv]
Neuroscience says that kindness
activates the brain’s reward centre releasing dopamine the feel good,
neurotransmitter. This makes the giver a feel happier and more fulfilled life. Kindness
does good to the individuals; and lowers blood pressure, produces more oxytocin
which helps in the dilatation of the blood vessels and promoted cardiovascular
health.
“To be saved from sin, a
man must at the same time own it and disown it; it is this practical paradox
which is reflected in this verse. A true saint may say it in a moment of
passion, but a sinner had better not make it a principle.” (Wuest)
Kindness and
related competencies can be trained, resulting in both functional and
structural neural plasticity. Training in such complex practices, which require
simultaneous activation of perceptual, affective and cognitive capacities,
increases global synchronization and integration among different networks,
leading to enhanced mobilization of the brain's resources and increased
processing efficiency.[v]
The desire to do good for others,
showing kindness to someone has a huge impact on ourselves. When someone shows
kindness to us, or saying kind words, it changes our heart and our
neurophysiology. It opens us up, and we feel differently. In other words,
kindness can bring tangible change in our neurophysiology and our emotional
state.
Now,
this is just what the Christian has to do. He has within him the new life; he
has a living and undying principle, which the Holy Spirit has put within him,
but he feels that everyday he has to drag about with him this dead body, this
body of death, a thing as loathsome, as hideous, as abominable to his new life,
as a dead stinking carcass would be to a living man.” (Spurgeon)
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