There are many assaults on the inner life.  We may not be attacked by knife-wielding maniacs or be running from people shooting bullets but there is surely an assault on our souls.  The enemy is a thief and delights to rob us of life.  He steals, kills and destroys and has had plenty of practice in his crafty craft.  One of the effects of the fall (original sin), is the struggle with “negative attribution.”  Even when people mean well, we can, at times, attribute their actions to evil.  What they meant for good, we see as malice.  There may be people who think ill of us but somedays it feels like it is everyone.  The result is, we start to think ill of them.  All of this is very destructive to the inner life.  When we are attacked from without and from within, the result can be crushing to our souls.  If we’re not treating this malady in ways that are good and right, we can become self-destructive and lose heart.  To lose heart is to give up; to give in, to give over to negativity and despair.  Some will medicate.  Some will seek amusement and entertainment.  Some will try something new and/or novel that seems “right to a man.”  Paul certainly knew what it was to be under attack outside and inside.  He knew what it was to struggle.  Yet, twice in the passage we are considering on Sunday, he wrote, “We do not lose heart.”  I want to know how he kept on going in spite of the assaults on his inner life.   Do you?  See you Sunday, if the Lord wills .