Philemon 1:14

"But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly."
Philemon 1:14


Paul's words here are interesting to me, and remind me of other things that God mentions in the scriptures... "the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind" is one of them... and so I think that Paul's words apply to us spiritually as well... God isn't going to just come down and change our hearts or heal us, without our willingness.  God is all about Free Agency, and offering us the opportunity to choose our futures, and our now.  I am reminded of Junior High school... I was on the basketball team, and one of my friends was a wizard on the court, but complained a lot.  So, one practice our coach pulled her off the floor and made her sit out the whole practice, and when asked, said that it was her "attitude."  After practice, I was talking to her about it, and she said to me: "I didn't realize that we were being judged on attitude; I thought it was all about basketball... but now that I know, I can do that."  so... after that, she was all about having a positive attitude, and always played in the games. :)  Now, I'm not saying that life is exactly like a junior high basketball team... but God isn't going to come in and fight us every step of the way.  You can't help anyone unless they want some help... you can try and try, and your good intentions will keep getting thrown back in your face.  And God does continue to try and try... to get our attention, to get us to see when we are about to go off the cliff... but he can't do the essential surgery on our souls unless we want it... and are willing to be vulnerable enough to accept the general anesthetic and the doctor's opinion.  We can be cured of *anything* ... but only if we are willing to accept our doctor's opinion, and not keep ignoring the illness.