Journey into Lightl

We don’t like to change. In fact we tend to cling to our usual ways of living even when they don’t work very well.

But God says to put off the old and put on the new. What old, and what new?

In my case, it’s to put off my old identity of being a person who has to work hard to have importance, be loved, and be okay. Instead, God wants me to put on my new identity of being important, loved, and okay without having to do anything. I’m his kid! Loving fathers don’t demand performance before they give what a child needs to feel loved, important and accepted.

But I have been trained to perform-and now God wants me to put that belief off at a deeper level that I must earn love, acceptance and worth from him and put on the belief that I already have those needs met by being God’s kid. But how do I get rid of a belief that I’ve held for most of my life?

But before we talk about the how, let’s talk about the why.

Why the Old Needs to Go

Most of us have little idea how much we have been molded to conform to the world when we start following God. “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (I John 2:15-16).

So God tells us to put off this accumulated baggage and to put on his way of living life. We often try to put on the new without getting rid of the old. We try to put new wine in old wineskins, which ruins the new wine (Luke 5:37). For example, if we fail to get rid of the notion that we can achieve our way into being a godlier person, we will often turn our ministries into another attempt to view ourselves as good Christians. We fail to minister to serve others.

In Ephesians 4, God says for us put off and to put on these things:

• From lying to telling the truth

• From anger to love

• From bitterness to forgiveness

• From putting people down to encouraging them

• From grieving the Holy Spirit to walking in the Spirit

• From stealing to working hard at a job

But how do we do this? How do we put off the old?

How We Get Rid of the Old

Next time we will discuss how we can get rid of the old habits of living so that we can embrace the new life.