The New You...

April 22, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2.

STEP 1: UNDERSTANDING YOUR SACRIFICE

Some people will read this scripture and seriously feel fear. “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices” sounds harmful! Here is where it is good that we cannot isolate scripture. Keep reading. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” So do you have to offer yourself as a human sacrifice over a fire? No, well no, not really.

This doesn’t mean jump up on the altar and hand the other guy the knife to do you in. It means you are offering yourself to God in order that you will not conform to the pattern of the word, and you will be transformed by the renewing of your mind in Him.
That is when, as the scripture tells us, we are able to “test and approve what God’s will is”. That does not mean that you get to test God, but holding to our faith in the tests of life, we see His Will. Simply put – keep getting back up.

We beg Him to tell us His will, and this scripture tells us how to get there. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world…”. Be different, and before that be willing.

You are the sacrifice. You must sacrifice your own mind, your will and your emotions and give them over to Him. But a bigger sacrifice was given in order that you are even able to give everything over to Him. Jesus was that sacrifice. “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”. Romans 7:21-25.

Ridding yourself of your sinful desires is no easy task, and we will fall short, and this is why Jesus came, died, and rose from the dead. God’s law is Holy and perfect. We would not know what a sin was without it. Apart from the law, sin is dead. You have to break one of the rules to sin right? So no rules, no sin. Once rules come into being so does the desire to break them. You know the feeling where you are not supposed to do something and you do it anyway. In the Garden of Eden, Eve knew she was not supposed to eat the apple, but she could not resist the temptation. So along with the law come the sinful desires. But the good news: “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” Romans 10:4.

Before when there were just rules, many would rebel against them and break them. And at that time the only cure for sin was death. Through Jesus everything changed.

Think of it this way. If you have a daughter and you are very strict and have a ton of iron clad rules in place and show no mercy, faithfulness, or forgiveness is she likely to rebel against you? But what if you have rules in place, and you have trust in her that she will follow them, and when she doesn’t you punish her but do it with justice and mercy, won’t you have a better relationship with her? Are there people in your life you feel too bad about disobeying because they love and trust you a lot? How do you feel disobeying the people who only show you rules but no love and trust? Which one are you more likely to disobey?

Being obedient after Christ allows us to obey God with a sense of honor because we know that He is faithful to us, and that He is a just and merciful God. If He were not His Son would not have had to die to save us.

Rules mean you “have” to obey. Love means you “want” to obey. When we feel our relationship with God is full of a “have” to, we tend to backslide and turn from Him. However, when we realize His love and mercy, we “want” to obey Him because we don’t want to disappoint someone we love so much.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6:12-14.

So we uphold the law, knowing our sin is forgiven, because of His wonderful Grace. He loved us so much to do something so spectacular to save us from death, that we want to become “instruments of righteousness” to show Him our love for Him. We are Christ’s hands and feet here on Earth, and the way He can reach people.

Our sins have died with Christ, and now, “by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” Romans 7:6.

Now you are serving in the new way of the Spirit, and the Spirit lets you know when you are doing something wrong. For example, the law says that we are not to lie. When you lie, do you feel guilty? If so, then that is the Spirit letting you know that you are not obeying the law.

STEP 2: BE AN INSTRUMENT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9.

You are to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, anything excellent or praiseworthy.

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2. You are to, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5. “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” Colossians 3:8-11.

You are to “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:12-17.

If you are with someone who is hurting you, then you are to forgive and leave the situation handling it in a Godly way, and rid yourself of your Earthly desires, which includes evil desires and greed. Do not allow another to lead you into that, but you forgive and step away knowing you have done it with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Above all other virtues you are to put on love. Remember that one.

In summary, you are to set your mind on what the Spirit desires. “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” Romans 8:5. What does the Spirit desire?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Galatians 5:22-26.

The Spirit wants that fruit to grow on your tree. Look at those words above and ask yourself in your life what actions you take that prohibit your fruit from growing. You are quick to lose your temper (gentleness and self-control). You are worried about something you cannot change, i.e. another person, your past, etc. (peace and faithfulness). You continue to do something that you know is a sin (joy, peace, and faithfulness). You never take the time to say anything nice to anyone (kindness and goodness). You attempt to fix everything in your own life because God is not moving fast enough for you (faithfulness, patience, peace, joy, self-control).

STEP 3: TRANSFORMING YOUR MIND

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” Titus 3:3-8.

The old you is gone and the new you is here. The new you is being renewed in the knowledge of the Lord. The only one who will tempt you to handle things in this world as the old you is Satan. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24.

First, put on the new you. Devote yourself to doing good. “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16.

The Spirit is at work within you, and will send you signals when you do something wrong. Take that and aim higher. Keep getting back up. Prepare your mind for action. Prepare for those negative things of the world that will try to bring you down and refuse to let them. One way to do this is forgiveness. Forgive others, and forgive yourself. Don’t let self-doubt, anger, and frustration build because you have not forgiven.

The new you needs to handle things differently. Many people who ask me for advice or whom I am just talking with will frequently hear me say, “Well the Old Danielle would…” followed by “But the New Danielle is…”. I am a new creation in Him and working to be an instrument of righteousness.

Second, forget about the past, and forget about the things you cannot change. If you are forgiven by your Savior then stop worrying about things you cannot do anything about. If you are forgiven by God through Christ, then God is not worried about your past. He is focused on your future. You cannot change people. Do your best to help, and then let God do the rest. Remember you can’t take His job. And you can’t save the world.

Third, focus on God. Here on Earth, we tend to be anxious. I know that I have been labeled as the one who worries so much that no one else has to. We are concerned with what everyone else is thinking. We beat ourselves up for actions in our past. We want others to change, and when they don’t we allow it to affect us.

We spend so much time here on Earth concerned with what everyone else is thinking. We want to make someone jealous when they hurt us, and we want them to envy us.

Why are we so concerned with each other? We may or may not see each other again. One you are going to face? God. All of us. No matter what. He is not likely to be kinder based on how many shoes you have, designer clothes you wear, what car you drive, what jewelry you have, or anything material. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7.

No, I don’t believe that it is a sin for me to get my hair and nails done. But if I am walking with God, I am devoting time to Him as well. But getting my hair and nails done is not my sole priority, He is. Besides, what if I die in an hour? What does getting my hair and nails done amount to? Well, I guess I saved the funeral home some work then. After that, I am all God’s.
What are you putting before God? Whatever it is will be where your heart is. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21. When you give your life over to God, He may let you know that He doesn’t want you with the girl you are seeing. What to do then? If you stay you are putting her over Him, and that is a problem. He has to be your focus. It is His Will, not your will remember?

Fourth, stay positive. The scripture tells us that your mind cannot conform to the patterns of this world. Patterns of this world? For example, sinful desires (flesh), idolatry (putting things or people before God), worry, anger, vanity, greed, selfishness, envy, lack of self-control, and on and on. These are all negatives. Focus on the positives.

A new you in Christ is a self-improvement, and that is the biggest positive. Change your way of thinking. When you feel those anxious thoughts start up stop yourself and breathe. Don’t give in to the doubts in your mind. Don’t verbalize your doubts. That is when you pray. "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21. Your tongue speaks life or death into your situation. “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:37.

Staying positive is hard with everything the world has to throw out at you, and we often predict the worst so we won’t be as upset when it happens. But how do you know if you predicted the best then the best would have come?

To keep up with the new you, surround yourself with others that lift you up. Also, seek God’s word. A renewed mind doesn’t come from starving yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a hunger for God’s word, and then go after it.

This is when your caterpillar becomes a butterfly.