Put Off The Old Man & Put On The New Man

Something I’m continuing to learn in my walk with Jesus, is that our way of thinking is limited, often wrong and backwards. We live in a world, in a time were people call good is “evil” and evil is “good.” The trials of life are looked at backwards. The way of thinking is that we, especially Christians, shouldn’t go through trials and training. Jesus never promised us a pain-free life, He did promise to never leave us.

Trials are not easy or fun to deal with but they are necessary. Through those trials, we are being trained and refined. (James 1:2-4, this is not an easy one) Think of those who sign up for any armed services. They are completely stripped of their individual identity, stripped of old ways of thinking and reacting, stripped of the old person they used to be. They go through

trials and training to become soldiers. They learn to fight as a functioning unit. They learn to think differently, to see the world around them in a new way.

They didn’t “do” anything to deserve the treatment they received, the breaking down of that old person they once were, it’s discipline. As we continue to walk with Jess, we die to our old ways, die to the person we once were to put on a new person. The person we were created to be, the person God set before the foundations of the earth.

Trials, discipline, stripping away of the old person, that stuff is painful, but necessary. When we get through any particular training, we are found thanking God for what He’s done! He’s not the author of the pain, but He certainly allows them.

Today, I challenge you to turn your mind (Rom. 12:2; 2 Corinth 10:3-5). Let’s continue to grow in Christ. Let’s decrease that in us, His Spirit, His ways, His love, His will, may increase in us. Be blessed Brothers and Sisters!