Galatians 2:10 (NLT) My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
You ever hear someone say that you have to die to yourself or your flesh, well I don’t think I’m alone in saying this is truly one of the hardest and often times most painful things we have to do. However, I will also say that it is a very necessary part of our Christian growth. There are so many things we say, do and think that are not of God, but are of our flesh and cause us to stray from God and His will for our lives.
This verse says that when we give ourselves to Christ, we must give up or crucify our old selves on the cross too. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice when He shed His blood and died for our sins, so now we must live for Him by allowing Him to live in us. The bible tells us that light and dark cannot exist in the same place; the light being God and the dark being the enemy and the world. When we are not, at the very least, striving towards what God is calling us to be then we are living in darkness.
Now, I will be the first to admit that I have my days where I'm a bit selfish, emotional and driven by what I think is right, but I'm really at a point in my life that I'm realizing just how important it is to be as much like Christ as I possibly can. I truly want what He wants for me; even if I don't like it and even if it hurts my flesh…simply because I know in my heart He has my best interest in mind.
Lately, each morning, I’m finding myself telling God that I give myself to Him today. I’m praying that He will help me die to, or let go of, the things of my flesh so that I can be more like Him. This is not always easy or pleasant; in fact I will say that sometimes God and I differ in what we think is best for me. Even to the point that I can honestly say that sometimes I fight Him on it and end up going through the same mess over and over again until I surrender. But…finally, at some point I realize that He is all knowing and I must let go of my stubbornness and let Him have His way.
The second half of this verse gives us some comfort and hope in knowing that while we are in these earthly bodies’, striving to be what God wants us to be, we can trust Him. He loves us better than we could ever love ourselves in that He gave Himself for us. It’s with this knowledge that we can trust and believe that He will never lead us in the wrong direction. He will never want to change or take away anything from us that would not cause us to be better in the first place.
I may not always be happy with what needs to be stripped away or changed, but I am always thankful when God opens my eyes. The fact that God loves and cares enough about me to pay such close attention to me and my life in detail, not only blesses me, but it also encourages me to want to be the best I can for Him.
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