When “very good” awaits you: Changing into a new creation
"It was so good, so very good!" (Genesis 1:31, The Message)
Sanctification is ever-evolving, never reaching a completed end but revealing more opportunity for a "good to very good" design.
When I read the Book of Philippians and Apostle Paul writes to the church from Roman imprisonment, I imagine that he had no fear of dying. He even says, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21, NKJV). He knew the gain of leaving this life and quite frankly during his journeys as Saul, a persecutor of Christ-followers, he would have died for those beliefs as well. Paul was probably never afraid to die, because he stood firm on either definition of himself.
This then has me thinking about the old and new me, and how my past self is terrified of dying...dying to all that she is and all that she knows. Why? Because her death would not be a gain; her beliefs are not whole, strong, or powerful, but they are comfortable. So she won't go down easily. She will fight to live no matter how wrong she is in her pursuits. She will confuse and scare the evolving me into staying the same,
Because...
I don't know what's on the other side of a sanctified life.
I don't even truly know that there is a new life.
I don't want to journey through nothingness towards discovery.
Curl Check:
Are you keeping your old self on life support because the new you would require more work? More responsibility? More accountability? More purity? More truth? More change?
What are you keeping alive out of fear of the unknown?
What strength, power, and influence are you holding captive in your need to stay the same?
Why are you disallowing your own freedom to a "very good" life?
So, what is an old self; what is "good"?:
1. Our pseudo-obedience to God (our good works absent of relationship with Him) Philippians 3:7
2. The projection to others of who we want to be, should be, or have been molded into (a form of people-pleasing)
3. Tradition-following instead of tapping into a personal connection with the Father
4. Being driven by the law of righteous living, but not righteous love (toward God, self, or others)
Jesus came (by miraculous birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection) so that we would have abundant life - and we are called to live exactly as He did.
SUPERABUNDANCE: A life full of joy and strength for the mind, body, and spirit.
If our recognition and respect of Jesus’s sacrifice, gift, promise, and call to a superabundant life is compromised by the old self refusing to acknowledge truth, step aside, and be challenged to change, then "very good" will wait forever.
What is a new self; what is "very good"?:
1. Remembering the order of our importance: we are image-bearers of the Father first (Genesis 1:26-27, NKJV) and workers of His land second (Genesis 2:15, NKJV). The love we share with God supersedes the work of our hands; our 'tending and keeping His garden' does not tell of our worth to Him.
2. Refusing to project a false image of wholeness, but pursuing real wholeness (however that may look in your personal relationship with God, exemplified by Christ, & led by the Holy Spirit)
3. Realizing that God is The Almighty, and knowing that we are STILL permitted to challenge life while simultaneously trusting and obeying Him
4. Living in the understanding that God’s kingdom is founded on love and to offer judgement, teaching, viewpoints, and The Gospel without it is to NOT be like Jesus. Love comes first.
"Very good" awaits us, but in order to unlock it we must let the old thinking, speaking, and behaving die...
Our doubt must die.
Our guilt must die.
Our beliefs not backed up by Christ-centered love must die.
Our paralyzing fear must die.
Our pseudo-perfection must die.
Our running after anything just to be seen as a runner MUST die.
Our lazy love for God and for others must die.
Our lack of self-appreciation and self-care must die.
Our desires absent of action must die.
Our settling for "good" must die.
Dying is not easy, but the promise of life afterwards is soothing to the initial 'loss.' "Christ's humiliation was followed by God's 'glorious' vindication of him, so present 'suffering' (or death to old self) for Christ's sake will be followed by 'glory' in the form of resurrection" (The Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable on 1 Peter 4:12-19). There is beauty after you let go of the past self you've created, been led to believe in, or have come to obey. Trust the process toward a freedom you've never experienced, "very good" starts in the mind first. It is a choice to believe that your relationship with God has more in store for you, far beyond who you thought you were supposed to be, and because of that revelation, you are permitted to GO. GET. IT. You are permitted to be so very, mm-mm good!
Smile, Shine, & Love, Curlfriends!
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I love you, Curls!
