I was reminded today how much I can listen to my old self. The old self that overthinks everything, worries far too much, gets anxious, majors on the details and then gets bogged down in them and thinks negatively. That old self I actually don’t like listening to as she has nothing good to say and wars against who and what God says I am.
We really have no business listening or even contemplating what our old self has to say, primarily because when we invite Jesus into our lives He gave us a new life. Our past, our old self, our mess ups, our guilt, pain and shame…everything passed away. It died and we was given newness of life as we became a new creation in Jesus. Essentially our old self was nailed to the cross just as Jesus was and were were born again.. brand new.
The question then to ask ourselves is who are we listening to? Which self is talking? Are we listening to the new creation us, or remembering and listening out for some dead thing?
Interestingly our Spirit’s know who we are and which self to listen to once we invite Jesus into our lives. It stirs within us when we hear and are around truth and faith. But our minds, emotions and will like to argue with who God says we are and His truth, especially if we spend little time growing in and focusing on our new self, our renewed spirits, and the new life Jesus has gifted to us.
To combat this old self talk which wars against our new person God encourages us to “not copy the behaviour and customs of the world, but let God transform us into a new person by changing the way we think.” (Romans 12:2)
We do that by reading God’s words and thinking about them, spending time with Jesus and others who know Him too, by focusing on heavenly things rather than trying to control and worry over everything down here, and seeking after what God has for us in each day. (Matt 6:33; Colossians 3:2; Hebrews 10:25; Philippians 4:6-7)
Today I encourage you to quit listening to your old self. It’s a dead thing with nothing useful to say to take you forward into the amazing future God has planned for you. Tune instead into the voice of God’s Spirit residing within you, to His voice in the pages of God’s word, in His presence as you draw aside and near to Him and in the remembering of who you are, what Jesus says about you and the destiny you have in Him.
Jesus said, “A thief has only one thing in mind – he wants to steal, slaughter and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect – life in Its fullness until you overflow. (John 10:10)
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you,” (John 14:26)
Prayer: Lord I’m choosing to quit listening to the voice of my old self for you say I am a new creation and new person in you. Please help me to tune into what you are saying and to remember everyday who I am and the future I have in you. In Jesus name amen
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