EXAMINING OURSELVES OR TRYING TO CHANGE, IF IT KEEPS US SELF-FOCUSED AND DEFEATED, IS FUTILE!

The passage, ‘Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life’ (Ephesians 4:22 NLT), reminds those worried about what becomes of their r flesh that, in what Paul describes as, throwing off that which is corrupted by lust and deception, and the Bible’s path to change which is to turn us away from self and focus instead on Christ, God’s ultimate plan is to replace our old self and give us new heavenly bodies. In other words, examining ourselves or trying to change if it keeps us self-focused and defeated, is futile. So let the knowledge that: 1) All our self-improvement strategies cannot transform our old self-nature, only God, ‘by the Spirit’, can make us more Christ-like; 2) He expects us to work on growth and self-improvement; and 3) As we look at and study His Word, we become transformed into His image and thereafter, move from glory to glory; teach you, like a lobster growing and shedding the confinement of its old shell, to focus on and fellowship with Christ, be released from the dominance of your old nature, and grow into your new one!FG. www.fgtalks.com