“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.”
This scripture always makes me think and be thankful for God's love for us. This is because we were all born sinners thanks to Adam. We all fall short of His glory but because of His love for us, His creations, we are made new in Christ. Our old lives are gone, we don't have to do or think like we used to. We instead open God's word and we start to see who Jesus is and we begin to act like Him. This is because we, with enthusiasm, want to learn and change to be different.
When we surrender to our new lives, we grow and the Holy Spirit who lives in us helps us through the trials and hard times that will come. These trial are proof that the ruler of this world, Satan, is working to keep us believing the lie that our old selves deserve to feel good and follow our flesh. This is far from the truth and only leads us to death in our walk. Paul understood this and lived differently knowing God was with Him even in the weakness of his flesh. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 which says, “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
When we study His word we need to let it transform us from the inside out and we need to live it out believing that it is true and our fleshly desires are not. Open up and know that we are made complete because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and His sacrifice has set us free to live our new lives in Him. Amen