I read an interesting devotional the other day. It spoke about how many of us continue to try to fix what is no longer broken.
As I thought about this I began to understand it from the correct perspective. We often have heard it said that the old man, or former self, has been put to death. The simple truth is that God wants us to see ourselves as He now sees us. We have a new self that is being conformed to the character of His Son Jesus. The Father knows that this is not something we can accomplish alone, but that we need His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to help us to see ourselves in this different light.
Yet, if we don’t see ourselves as being qualified, or worthy, to receive all the benefits that salvation gives to us, then we may not embrace them fully. So, it must be from this new position in Jesus that we see ourselves. As we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us daily into His likeness we will see that our efforts to live a life of holiness makes sense. What we thought was impossible is now possible when we see ourselves as worthy to live a transformed life.
It is during this transformation that we will come to acknowledge that the forgiveness we received is why we are those new creations. Conversely, if we continue to see ourselves as the broken individuals we were before Christ, then we will be resistant to what is our birth right through Jesus.
Ephesians 4:22-24 CSB to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of truth.