How To Be More Like God
by Mrs. Mynista (Stephanie)
http://www.thirtyoneonline.com
What must we do in order to be more like God? That’s a big question but also one that has an answer. Part of that answer can be found in Ephesians 4:22-24:
:22 Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; :23 And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], :24 And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.
Let’s look at these verses one by one. First, we are told to strip ourselves of our former nature. Something that is obvious from these words but could be easily overlooked is that this is OUR job, not God’s job. It is up to us to take off our old nature. God can and will do many things for us, but He also expects us to do some things for ourselves, including this.
My word picture for this first verse is that when we come to God, whether it’s when we are first giving our life to Him or whether it’s in our time of repentance, we must take off our old self, just like we take off our “old” clothes at the end of each day. Nobody likes to wear the same clothes day after day, partly because after a while they will start to stink! The same is true of us when we don’t go to God on a daily basis to take off our old self.
This verse tells us not only to take off our old self but also to “discard” it! That means that when we go to God and repent of our sins, we are to throw those things away forever. The word “repent” means to whole-heartedly apologize, to make a 180 degree turn, and to go in the opposite direction of that sin. With God’s help and our determination, we should not be purposefully going back to our old self; we should be throwing that away.
Second, we are told constantly renew our minds. This is not a one time deal; it is a lifelong process! How do we renew our minds? We can only do this by getting in God’s presence and by getting in His Word. I know personally that my mind can VERY quickly go off the deep end when I don’t renew it!
Following on with my word picture, after we have taken off our old clothes (our old self) then we need to take a shower. It is only when we have stripped ourselves down to our natural state that we can then “get clean”. We need to wash our minds with the water of His Word, and only then can we get rid of all the contamination of the world. Again, this cleaning process is up to us.
Third, we are told to put on our new nature, the one that looks and acts more like God. The only way we will know how to look and act like God is to read His Word. When we take off our old self and wash up with the Word, only then can we look and act more like God.
It is in this last step that we go to our closet and put on our new clothes (our new self). God wants the best for us in every area of our lives; the Bible says that He daily loads us with His benefits. He doesn’t want you to take off your old self, get all clean through His Word, and then go back and put on old, dirty clothes. He wants you to put on your best self everyday, something new and fresh. If you’ve had a problem with gossip, for instance, then He wants you to put on your new self today which doesn’t gossip! If you’ve had a problem with lust, then He wants you to put on your new self today which resists that temptation and takes the way out. This is how we can be more like God. Just give it a try and see how great you feel wearing your new self!
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