Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
“Let go and let God” is a statement that I have heard many times, and I am sure that I have said it myself as well. We throw our hands in the air and throw our cares back on God with little or no consideration for our responsibility in the matter.
Make no mistake about it, if we find ourselves in some trouble, its roots lay in one of two places:
- Faulty thinking or actions that we are in engaged in. Sin.
- God has placed trials and struggles in our lives in order for us to learn and grow.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become a “new” creation. The Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts, and the perfecting process is in motion.
Philippians 1:6 NLT
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
In this post, we will focus on our “faulty thinking or actions.”
Going back to “Let go and let God,” this has been taken care of by His grace and mercy through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Our faith in Jesus Christ saves us. All of this by none of our effort. God chooses us.
1 Peter 1:2 NLT
God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.
It is His spirit that has made us holy. He gave us the faith to accept Jesus as Lord. We are saved and going to heaven. He will never let us go.
Romans 8:35-39 NLT
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But we are called to represent God’s family. We are called to bring the hope of Jesus to the ends of the earth. But that starts with those directly around us. Those we are around the most will be the most cynical, but they will also be the most influenced if…
Our lives are changed by our faith in Jesus and by allowing Him to work out our salvation through obedience. If our lives are not changed by His hand, we will not be of use to anyone. And if our lives are not changing by His hand, it may be evidence that we are not saved.
If that is where you find yourself, I encourage you to get on your knees before God and ask Him into your heart.
Ephesians 4:22 “…put off your old self…” This is an active part that is on us. This activity takes some genuine introspection on our part, honestly looking at what we think, what we say, and what we do.
Do the things we think, say, and do, glorify God?
We will engage in this activity from now until the day the Lord comes to get us or takes us home, whichever comes first.
The following spiritual disciplines that we use to help us in these areas are:
Bible reading and Bible study.
Prayer
Corporate Worship and Life Groups
Ephesians 4:23 “and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds” This is passive. This is Jesus through the Holy Spirit working in and through our lives.
This is where Jesus will take our efforts through our spiritual disciplines and make them part of how we think, say, and do. He will compound them and make them a natural way of living for us.
This is a progression; we choose to “put off our old self,” and we engage in spiritual disciplines that will change our lives. We read and study our Bible and participate in corporate and small group worship; we pray to God, asking Him to help us and show us ways to help others.
This leads to the “renewing of our minds,” our thinking starts to change, our language starts to change and what we do begins to change. The transformation is taking place.
Ephesians 4:24 “and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
This is an upward spiral that continues from now until the time we find ourselves in the presence of the Lord.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
I pray that You provide me with the strength, willingness, and courage to lay myself down in service to You and the people of Your church.
Thank You for the challenges and trials that You put before me. I pray that You open my eyes to the lessons that You are teaching me through them.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
