I feel so much like Paul talked about in Romans 7:21-25 ... hating this sin nature and what it does to us, and am so thankful that it's only temporary for those of us who are saved! I can't wait till I have my new body and no sin nature and am really and truly just like my Lord! I bet we all feel pretty much the same way too.
As I've been studying this, I've come to think of the way we tend to think and act as our default mind set, because in many ways, our minds are very much like computers. All our feelings and actions are brought about by our thoughts...thoughts we've had since we were born and the vast majority of them are not godly, not scriptural, but instead are from what the world has taught and shown us. So we badly need to replace all that programming with God's programming from His Word. That's what He's talking about when He tells us to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (by replacing them with the Truth from His Word. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
I've been working on this for a long time, but as Paul knew, it's something we have to do from the time we're saved until the day we finally see Him in Heaven. I made a list of the many default mind sets from before we were saved. Actually I copied them from scripture
, and then made another of the ones that should replace them, again, from scripture. Check it out:
Default attitudes: bitterness, rage, anger, malice, unforgiveness, hatred, jealously, deceit, slander, gossip, grudges, selfishness, self pity, self-righteousness, self centeredness, pride, and conceit.
Christ like attitudes: sacrificial love, forgiveness, humility.
I thought it was pretty neat that all those sinful attitudes could be overcome and replaced with only 3 godly ones, and really, only 1, because sacrificial love includes forgiveness and humility!
I purposely called it "sacrificial love" instead of just love, because the world's definition of love is so different from God's definition...like everything else is, really and wanted to remind myself of the correct kind of love. God's definition means always putting others before ourselves, where as in the world, love is really very selfish. Just as importantly, in God's definition, love isn't a feeling, it's a decision, a commitment, whereas the world views it as a feeling that can come and go.
More and more I'm seeing the truth of the Lord's words when He tells us that if we obey the 1st two commandments, we will actually obey all God's law and walk in His Will. When we're able to do it, live a life of love like that, it's like a breath of fresh air after smelling something particularly obnoxious. Usually though we get caught up in the world's ways and react to people and situations out of habit instead of out of our new nature.
And that's just so upsetting to me. That's why I can so easily relate to what Paul says. I want with all my heart to live according to my new nature, and yet every time I turn around, I've slipped back into my old ways out of habit. All we can do of course is get back up, brush ourselves off, and try again, asking the Lord to forgive us once again and help us not to react next time, but instead to purposely act out of our new nature. It sure does help though to know that there's an end to this, and that one day we'll really be like Jesus and won't have to struggle to love and obey. It helps too if we can remember that the more we practice the better we'll get at it, and our failures will come fewer and further between.
In the mean time, I keep asking the Lord to remove those nasty attitudes from my heart and fill me with His love, forgiveness and humility. I can't help thinking of what a wonderful world this could be if everyone loved the way He does all the time. Then I get excited though because one day we'll actually see what this world could be like if people loved that way...during the Millennium! I can't wait!
As I've been studying this, I've come to think of the way we tend to think and act as our default mind set, because in many ways, our minds are very much like computers. All our feelings and actions are brought about by our thoughts...thoughts we've had since we were born and the vast majority of them are not godly, not scriptural, but instead are from what the world has taught and shown us. So we badly need to replace all that programming with God's programming from His Word. That's what He's talking about when He tells us to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (by replacing them with the Truth from His Word. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
I've been working on this for a long time, but as Paul knew, it's something we have to do from the time we're saved until the day we finally see Him in Heaven. I made a list of the many default mind sets from before we were saved. Actually I copied them from scripture
, and then made another of the ones that should replace them, again, from scripture. Check it out: Default attitudes: bitterness, rage, anger, malice, unforgiveness, hatred, jealously, deceit, slander, gossip, grudges, selfishness, self pity, self-righteousness, self centeredness, pride, and conceit.
Christ like attitudes: sacrificial love, forgiveness, humility.
I thought it was pretty neat that all those sinful attitudes could be overcome and replaced with only 3 godly ones, and really, only 1, because sacrificial love includes forgiveness and humility!
I purposely called it "sacrificial love" instead of just love, because the world's definition of love is so different from God's definition...like everything else is, really and wanted to remind myself of the correct kind of love. God's definition means always putting others before ourselves, where as in the world, love is really very selfish. Just as importantly, in God's definition, love isn't a feeling, it's a decision, a commitment, whereas the world views it as a feeling that can come and go.
More and more I'm seeing the truth of the Lord's words when He tells us that if we obey the 1st two commandments, we will actually obey all God's law and walk in His Will. When we're able to do it, live a life of love like that, it's like a breath of fresh air after smelling something particularly obnoxious. Usually though we get caught up in the world's ways and react to people and situations out of habit instead of out of our new nature.
And that's just so upsetting to me. That's why I can so easily relate to what Paul says. I want with all my heart to live according to my new nature, and yet every time I turn around, I've slipped back into my old ways out of habit. All we can do of course is get back up, brush ourselves off, and try again, asking the Lord to forgive us once again and help us not to react next time, but instead to purposely act out of our new nature. It sure does help though to know that there's an end to this, and that one day we'll really be like Jesus and won't have to struggle to love and obey. It helps too if we can remember that the more we practice the better we'll get at it, and our failures will come fewer and further between.
In the mean time, I keep asking the Lord to remove those nasty attitudes from my heart and fill me with His love, forgiveness and humility. I can't help thinking of what a wonderful world this could be if everyone loved the way He does all the time. Then I get excited though because one day we'll actually see what this world could be like if people loved that way...during the Millennium! I can't wait!
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