You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4: 22-24)
The
apostle Paul wrote those words to new believers in Ephesus nearly two thousand
years ago, but when I first read them it was as if he was speaking directly to
me.
Before
I believed and received Christ into my heart the idea of an invisible God who
has a plan for my life seemed like foolishness. I thought that sense perception
and the reasoning we do from what we perceive is the only source of knowledge.
I did not consider revelation from God to be a real way of knowing, I did not
believe that all Scripture is God-breathed, I did not have the Spirit and “The
person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because
they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor.2: 14-15). This left me with a
problem.
It
was fashionable back in the ‘60s to try to “find your identity” or “be true to
yourself,” and that meant there really is a “true you” to be found. But even
with the help of a secular psychologist, who was no better than me at
discerning spiritual things, I could not find my true self. All I could find
was behavior patterns that were the product of my heredity and my environment as
I was growing up. I was busy trying to be accepted and get the approval of significant
others, but I had no idea who I really was!
All
that changed when I received Christ into my heart and He gave me spiritual
life. I began to accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, and the
sweetest thing I learned was that I was created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, yet uniquely
me. Without Christ in my heart I was being corrupted by deceitful
desires, both my own and those of others. I now know that I am God’s workmanship, I am fearfully and
wonderfully made, my Creator knows what I was made for, other people do not. The
Holy Spirit is my teacher and He is renovating my heart, making me into a
palace fit for the King.
The
same is true for every believer as we make room for Christ in our hearts and he
continues his renovation project in each of us. As we take captive the thoughts
and attitudes of our minds and hearts and make them obedient to Christ we are
putting on our true self. Each of us is finding our unique identity in Christ,
and that means finding our place in His kingdom.
