“Put off your old self . . put on the new self.” Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV
“Anything that does not accurately express who you are in Christ must change.”
My thoughts today are about “change that matters.”
Life should always be about moving forward, and the first thing for doing that successfully is learning what you need to release and need to acquire. Your past accumulation of habits, priorities, opinions, and lifestyle always has to give way for your future and all that is necessary to experience that fully. That’s what the Apostle Paul understood when he wrote, “Anyone united with Jesus is created new. The old life is gone; a new life is born” 2 Corinthians 5:17 The Message.
The Apostle further explains how this happens, “Everything – and I do mean everything – connected with that old way of life has to go. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life – a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you.” Ephesians 4:22-24 The Message. Read that again slowly, letting its profound truth and powerful possibilities thrill your understanding – “a God-fashioned life . . renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you.” Read 2 Peter 1:3-11 NIV. Is that what is happening in your heart today? Has it ever? That’s how you are called to live everyday in Christ.
The Apostle Paul instructed Christ-followers at Ephesus that when God lives and works within you, you will be different, noticeably and radically different than others may be and you once were – you will not lie to get ahead, cheat to succeed, find the easy but dishonest way to acquire things, use anger to control others, or be verbally abusive to get your way. Those are the old ways before Christ; the new ways are: be a truth-teller, a hard and honest worker, generous to others, and an encourager in every way. See Ephesians 4:17-32 NIV. The changes that matter are about character, not cosmetics.
But it is not just the obviously harmful things that have to be set aside; anything, however good otherwise but no longer assists your reaching new goals, cannot be indulged. “All things are lawful to me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful to me, but not all things edify” 1 Corinthians 10:23. Anything that does not accurately express who you are in Christ, and the fullness of life that you are seeking to have, must be counted expendable – once helpful, now hindering. Everyone carries old baggage – the regrets, mistakes, and hurts carried in your memory, weighing down your journey. See Philippians 3:7-14 NIV.
“It’s like this: when I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things” 1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT. If you are serious about growing and going forward in your spiritual life, it is crucial, not optional, to put aside anything that contributed to your past but does not serve your desired future. It’s really this simple: “Put off your old self . . put on the new self.” Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV. You cannot possibly do that on your own. Willpower is not enough. God can do and will do that with you!
My prayer for you today is that you are serious about becoming who you should be.