Romans 7

In the Bible study I've been going to we're studying Romans. Last night, it was Romans 7. I'm still not quite comfortable speaking up and asking the questions that pop up in my head but they are still swirling in my head so I figure I'll try to get them out.

It talks about the mind vs. the body. Like how the sin within our body goes against our mind and what we know to be "right." I can definitely see how that can be the case. How many times have I done something knowing it wasn't such a great idea? Lots, of course. But I wonder. . .when the translation says "mind" does it mean our actual intellectual mind? Or something a little different . . . like what we consider our conscience? Because even if my mind is telling myself no, my mind still makes the decision to do something. I wish I could give precise examples but they're a tad bit personal.
Then I start thinking about how the passage seems to separate our minds from our bodies a great deal and I wonder if that's really the case. Are they really that separate? Studying neurobiology gives me the knowledge that really. . .no they aren't that separate. My mind is literally what controls my body. The neurons in my brain send signals to the rest of my body. And there are physical responses for feelings and emotions, etc. For example, someone walks into the cable company and is yelling, complaining, and being threatening and my heart starts pounding and I start shaking as a result of my fear. (Or does the physical response signal to my mind that I am afraid?) Or again, I see or hear something that reminds me of something sad and tears begin to well up in my eyes. It reminds me of being in my neuro class and studying the different theories of emotions. There at one time was a theory that we feel emotions based on our physical response. Like the emotion of being sad. . .do we cry because we are sad? Or are we sad because we cry? That sounds a little crazy huh? Most people wouldn't buy the thought that "oh I'm crying, that must mean I'm sad about something." Most of us would say that we feel sad (something going on in our brain) and we cry (the physical evidence of the sadness) as a result.

Ok so what does that mean? Are our minds and bodies so separate as it seems to say in Romans 7? On one hand, yes I think that we end up doing things we know we shouldn't and the whole time our mind is saying "stop! no! don't! this is not a good idea!" but the rest of us is doing as we please. But I wonder when I read something like "So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin (Romans 7:25, NRSV)" can you really separate the mind from the body considering the mind is what controls the body? I can't type what I"m typing right now without the neurons that are running from my brain and spinal cord to my fingers. Or without the neurons that control my intelligence and how I process information.

And consider the facts about how what we put into our physical bodies can affect our mind. And what about people whose minds are the problem? I found it interesting that as soon as we're done talking about all this last night (and I'm sitting here with these questions) that someone requests prayer for a friend's mom who has schizophrenia. What about people with these mental disorders or other cases when the mind doesn't function in a way we consider "normal?"

I read something else last night about the different sins of the "flesh." I don't remember where it is now. But it says something about anger. Now I've always struggled with my anger and in what ways it is sinful. I consider my anger something in my mind. The anger in my mind can manifest itself physically, like yelling, shaking, heart pounding, etc. It's hard for me to consider the physical manifestations as the anger itself. To me, the anger begins in my mind. What I do as a result can be what is sinful.
So what am I to do with a passage that says that the body is a slave to sin and the mind is a slave to the law of God? What am I to do with a passage that talks about being set free of a body of death (7:24) when it seems that the very thing I want to be set free from is my mind?
My mind that keeps remembering all the rejection I've experienced at different times in my life and that making me feel a certain way about myself, my mind that can't seem to believe who and what I really am (beloved and a child of God), my mind that seems to always hold me back.

So what is the conflict? A battle between my body and mind? Or a conflict between my mind and well. . .my mind?