August 18, 2023 NO LONGER LIVING FOR OURSELVES
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
We hear a lot about dying to self in Christian circles, and it is well established in God’s word that we are to lay our lives down. Yet, I suspect that many have questions as to what it looks like to die to self. After all, we still must go about our daily routines such as going to work or school, maintaining our possessions, engaging in certain social activities, and the such; those who do not know Christ do the same things-son what’s the difference? At the center of the dying to self issue is the matter of what is our motivation in life-what or who are we living for. Man by nature wants to be in control; thus the idea of dying to what self wants is not a popular idea. In the verse above, we are told that when Christ died, all died. That is an amazing statement. What is crucial for believes is to come to know and embrace that truth not just in their mind, but in their spirit as well. We cannot have two lives; we must die so that we can have the life of Christ is us; Christ’ life and our life can no co-habit. When Christ is our life, He expresses His life through us. How awesome is it that the Creator God chooses to express Himself through us! In the scriptures we learn what God is like-His attributes and His character-and we can be be reflectors of Him. We cannot be expressions of His life by our own effort; it must become revelation to us in our spirit that Christ died for us and rose again on our behalf; that he defeated the power of sin; that He has made us new creations and now lives in us; it is no longe we who live. Our old self was crucified when Christ was crucified; and we have been raised in newness of life. God does not call us to die to ourselves to rob us of joy or to make us miserable; He calls us to die to self in order that we might experience life to the fullest. Now, our motivation in life is to honor the one who died for us and to do the things that are pleasing to Him. So, now we see our daily routines as opportunities to express His life-to demonstrate His love and goodness and His redemptive nature. Now, the motivation of our heart has changed; we are no longer focused on gratifying self, but on blessing others. The good news is that as we die to our ways, we find life on a much higher plane-we experience life as God designed it to be. Dying to ourselves is a continual act. Let us not live for ourselves, but for the One who gave Himself for us.
Romans 6:11 “Even though consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Blessings, Buddy
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
We hear a lot about dying to self in Christian circles, and it is well established in God’s word that we are to lay our lives down. Yet, I suspect that many have questions as to what it looks like to die to self. After all, we still must go about our daily routines such as going to work or school, maintaining our possessions, engaging in certain social activities, and the such; those who do not know Christ do the same things-son what’s the difference? At the center of the dying to self issue is the matter of what is our motivation in life-what or who are we living for. Man by nature wants to be in control; thus the idea of dying to what self wants is not a popular idea. In the verse above, we are told that when Christ died, all died. That is an amazing statement. What is crucial for believes is to come to know and embrace that truth not just in their mind, but in their spirit as well. We cannot have two lives; we must die so that we can have the life of Christ is us; Christ’ life and our life can no co-habit. When Christ is our life, He expresses His life through us. How awesome is it that the Creator God chooses to express Himself through us! In the scriptures we learn what God is like-His attributes and His character-and we can be be reflectors of Him. We cannot be expressions of His life by our own effort; it must become revelation to us in our spirit that Christ died for us and rose again on our behalf; that he defeated the power of sin; that He has made us new creations and now lives in us; it is no longe we who live. Our old self was crucified when Christ was crucified; and we have been raised in newness of life. God does not call us to die to ourselves to rob us of joy or to make us miserable; He calls us to die to self in order that we might experience life to the fullest. Now, our motivation in life is to honor the one who died for us and to do the things that are pleasing to Him. So, now we see our daily routines as opportunities to express His life-to demonstrate His love and goodness and His redemptive nature. Now, the motivation of our heart has changed; we are no longer focused on gratifying self, but on blessing others. The good news is that as we die to our ways, we find life on a much higher plane-we experience life as God designed it to be. Dying to ourselves is a continual act. Let us not live for ourselves, but for the One who gave Himself for us.
Romans 6:11 “Even though consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Blessings, Buddy
RSS Feed