17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!-
21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Katie and I both zoomed in on the putting off the old self and put on the new. It doesn't matter how long you have been a Christian, there are still times where you are tempted to put on the old self, the old habits, the old thought patterns. Katie was reminded of what she heard at a Beth Moore conference that even though it is a battle, we should never be living in complete defeat in this. God has called us to live victoriously.
ReplyDeleteWe are no longer chained to our sin nature anymore because Christ has broken the chains. Lord please help us to remember that we are no longer in bondage to the old self at all when we are tempted to sink back into our old skin.
We love how Paul writes clearly and definitiely. Put off your old self and put on the new self. Our lives should continually become more like God. We will never arrive this side of eternity but we have a decision to make every day. Will we pursue righteous and holiness or our old self?
ReplyDeleteOnce again we see selfishness (deceitful desires) at the core of a sinful life. I must do away with it and become robed in selflessness instead.
ReplyDeleteWe ned to daily check ourselves that we aren't walking in our old selves. That our lives aren't marked by selfishness and greed and the like as we pursue Jesus. Our ways need to be distinct from the world and draw heavily from the ways of Christ.
ReplyDeleteBecause of Jesus Christ we do have victory over our sins and we are a new creation. We must fight the temptations to go back to our old sinful habits; especially during times of frustration and adversity.
ReplyDelete