Meditate is a monthly column in which Chelsea shares insights she has gained from meditating on the Word. You can too! Contact us if you'd like to write a submission for this column -Editor.

“Our entire sense of self resides in our will. The first time we are born, the self is evil. The second time we are born, the self becomes good. The first time, we are born of our parents; the second time, we are born of the Lord” (True Christianity 658).

“Because we have the capacity to choose in freedom, we are able either to will something or else not to will it…

All the evils that we have a tendency toward from the day we are born are a lasting part of the will of our earthly self. When we allow ourselves to be influenced by these evils they flow into our thinking. Good things along with truths flow down into our thinking from above, from the Lord… If we choose evil things, they are received by our old will and become part of it. If we choose good things along with truths, a new will and a new intellect are formed by the Lord above our old will and our old intellect. Gradually over time, the Lord uses the truths that are in our new intellect to implant new forms of good on that higher level. Through these truths he also gains control over the evils that are below, moves them out of the way, and sets everything in order.

This also makes it clear that our thought process purifies and excretes, so to speak, the evils that are resident in us from our parents” (True Christianity 659).

The freedom and ability we have to will something or not to will it is a really important truth for me to remember.

So often I feel hopeless about my will. My will is my will—how can I change the fact that I will/desire/enjoy evil things and evil behavior?