What About My Old Me?

Someone wrote that “my old self is bugging me, and I keep dragging it around. What am I to do about my old me?”

Briefly, there is no more "it" to drag around. The old self is gone, having been replaced by the new. Christians do not have two selves, each competing with the other; one that needs to be beaten and killed, while the other needs to be nurtured and grown. The "bad self" that some refer to is the flesh, which is in conflict with the Spirit (Gal 5:16,17), and which still produces behavior through us (Galatians 5:19,20). But it’s not us. We’re not in the flesh. We’re not of the flesh. (See Romans 7:5-6; 8:9) We’re new creations, who now share in the nature of our Father. (See 2 Peter 1:2-5) That's the new birth, which was preceded with a death—yours. (See Romans 6:3-7) It's amazing! Shouldn't it be?

We’re Spirit-born sons and daughters. For real. Life for the Christian is not found in beating up our presumed sneaky and evil selves, while nourishing our struggling new selves. We’re all-the-way new. Life is found in the grace of God’s gift to us of the Spirit, who, as He attracts and secures our attention and trust, produces the evidence of eternal life. Frankly, He doesn’t even require our attention to do it; it just makes it easier and more invigorating for us. And that looks and feels great (Gal 5:22-25).

We're His workmanship, and He loves His work.