Day by day, he’s living out Romans 7.
He’s two years old.
Our little son Michael is energetic and willful and focused on things of his own choosing – in other words, as I said, he’s two.
Sometimes his will conflicts with ours in small ways, sometimes more seriously.
Of late, he has started offering a most heartfelt response to correction. He insists, “I don’t want to be be bad!”
Over and over, he’ll say it, either whining or bellowing, depending on the urgency of the moment, either “I don’t want to be bad!” or “I want to be good!”
Our reflexive response is almost always, “Then be good.” or “Then stop throwing that.” or “Then be quiet!”
To which he invariably responds with more insistence, “I don’t want to be bad!” with no indication that he has any intention of changing his behavior.
 What does this mean? Two possibilities come to mind – he either wants the keep his cover, to keep doing whatever he wants and call it “good” or “not bad” – or he really is engaged in the struggle, already, and is fighting mightily against it, announcing the pain of spiritual dissonance to the world.
Many of us, I suspect, can sympathize.