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SELF AND GOD
God's plan for the Church is that it should be perfect and without spot. He
never intended that we live day by day faced with problems in our lives for
which we cannot find a solution. The promises in God's Word make it clear
what his plan is for us.
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and
godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and
excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises.
... " 2 Peter 1:3,4. (RSV). Read Romans 8:37; John 10: 10; Isaiah 43:7;
Matthew 11 :28; 1 John 5:4, 5.
Because many Christians have not realized the release they can have through
what Christ has done on the Cross, they suffer from:
self-consciousness being too much aware of themselves and of
what others might be thinking.
condemnation continually discouraged about things that
seem to go wrong.
inferiority feeling less able to do things than other
people, lacking confidence in themselves.
These problems in turn lead Christians to lose the peace God has given them
and begin to strive to be accepted by God and by others around them. Some
become introspective: constantly examining their own lives; others react to
their problems and try to hide their insecurity by making a bold front of
self-confidence. These reactions affect the Christian's ministry to the Lord,
to other Christians and to the world.
Jesus said: "and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free".
John 8:32.
Reading God's Word and understanding His viewpoint concerning our problems
breaks their effect in our lives. Sometimes we may be aware of
self-consciousness, condemnation or inferiority without knowing why it is
there. The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the source of these problems if we
ask Him. Release then begins with an understanding of the cause of our
problems and is completed as we accept the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.
TWO KINDS OF PROBLEMS.
l. PROBLEMS THAT ARE SOLVED BY NEW ATTITUDES.
Many people are bound with self-consciousness, condemnation or
inferiority because they cannot accept themselves. Self-acceptance will
bring a greater release of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God accepts us
as we are: He desires that we accept ourselves.
a. our appearance.
The prophet Isaiah described Christ as a man with "no form nor
comeliness... no beauty that we should desire Him". Isaiah 13:2.
People were drawn to Christ not by the beauty of His appearance but by
the presence of God that radiated from Him.
The world around us is continually setting standards for an acceptable
personality and appearance which we subconsciously attempt to reach. To
many people their appearance is a problem: they begin to envy others and
so lose sight of the fact that God is "no respecter of persons" and that
He does not look on the outward appearance, but on the heart. He has
chosen to make our bodies His dwelling place.
"Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? " 1 Corinthians 6:19,
20. Read Isaiah 44:24; Acts 10:34; 1 Samuel 16:7.
b. our abilities.
The calling of God on our lives does not depend on our natural abilities.
God may use , but He often bypasses them.
"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise ... so that
no human being might boast in the presence of God" 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
(RSV)
Gideon was conscious of his lack of ability yet as he trusted in God he
was greatly used. Read Judges 6:12,15.
c. our parentage.
While we have an attitude of submission and love towards our parents, we
need not inherit any shortcomings they might have.
God set Jephthah over the nation of Israel as a judge to bring her back
to a relationship with God. Jephthah was a mighty man of valour and one
anointed by the Spirit of God, yet he was the son of a harlot.
Judges 11:1, 29.
d. our background.
We are made free from every influence of the past when we allow Christ to
become Saviour and Lord of our lives.
The apostle Paul had been a persecutor of Christians, yet when he
encountered Christ, the fearful effects of his past were put behind him
so that he could say: "this one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I
press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus" Philippians 3:13,14. Read Acts 26:4,5,10,11.
How can we be set free from wrong attitudes about ourselves?
a. accept ourselves as we are. This will bring a new confidence to
us. Ephesians 5:20.
b. see ourselves as God sees us. "...in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus". Ephesians 2:4-6
"joint-heirs with Christ". Romans 8:17; "His workmanship". Ephesians
2:10.
c. realize that all the bad effects of our past were completely overcome
by Christ's death.
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away: behold all things are become new". 2 Corinthians 5:17.
2. PROBLEMS TO BE REMOVED FROM OUR LIVES.
There are many different problems which we as Christians often regard as
"weaknesses" that we must struggle with for the rest of our lives. Here
are a few examples:
Moodiness; frivolity; pride; a sharp tongue; bad habits -- swearing,
superstition.
God does not regard these as weaknesses but as sins to be removed from
our lives.
How can we be set free from these sins?
a. See God's standard.
"that we ... might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness
before Him, all the days of our life". Luke 1:74, 75. Read 1
Thessalonians 4:7.
b. See God's plan.
"Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and
to purify for Himself a people of His own". Titus 2:14 (RSV). Read 2
Thessalonians 3:3.
c. Realize that Christ has broken the power of sin.
We know that our sins are forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ, yet
the power of sin still seems to grip us. Victory over sin is only found
when we realize that, no matter what we feel, it is an historic fact and
a divine promise that when Christ died, we died in Him, thus being freed
from the power that sin has in our lives.
"knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him ... that
henceforth we should not. serve sin". Romans 6:6.
d. Identify with Christ's work and accept it by faith.
"likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin".
Romans 6:11.
Once we identify with the objective fact of our position in Christ, we
can then put faith into operation and reckon that what Christ did on the
Cross has become effective for us personally. The result is the
experiencing of the truth that we died in Christ, we are dead to sin,
buried and resurrected to live free from sin and the power of sin. We
find that Christ dwells within us, that we are a new creation with the
life and character of God flowing through us.
e. Trust in the Lord daily.
We should then continue day by day to trust in the Lord and believe in
His promises a we experience a new freedom from the power of sin.
Galatians 5:1.
THE END