“For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.”
Romans 14:17-19 NLT
Do you live your life for self, others or for God?
The day we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior is one of the greatest days of our lives. Not only are our sins washed away, but God puts His Spirit inside of us and gives us new desires.
I love how the apostle Paul put it,
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
(2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)
If I have great stuff going on inside of me, then why do I still act this way?
Friends, when we give our lives to Christ, it's just the beginning. God deposits a seed of everything He is deep inside our spirits which helps us to want to do the right thing.
The problem is we still have a flesh. When the Bible talks about "the flesh," it is referring to our bodies and the parts of our souls that we have not yet surrendered to God…things like bad attitudes, selfishness, strife, anger, fear, unforgiveness, lust, addictions and anything else that leads to sin.
So how do we overcome these things?
First, it's a must for us to feed our spirit. As we read or listen to God's Word and spend time talking to Him in prayer, our spirit will eventually become stronger than our flesh.
Second, each day we are faced with a choice: Are we going to live the God-life, or the self-life?
If we live a self-directed, self-motivated, self-centered life, always needing to get our own way, then we're going to be miserable. In fact, many times we believe it's our problems that are making us unhappy when, in reality, it's because we're focused on ourselves!
“May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.”
Romans 15:5 NLT
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13 NLT
Lord God,
I know that I have a bunch of self driven desires still residing in me. Help me live Your way not the selfish ways of my past.
Amen
“Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.”
1 Peter 5:14 NLT
— Dennis
