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God's plan is to bring out the dark secrets of the heart and mind and give you right desires and habits of thinking.
Right here, Jesus shows us where to put our focus. That's the first commandment or instruction for taking our minds off "self." It really means to center ALL your affections and attention on doing everything possible to please your Lord because you love Him for what He has done for you...not to try to gain His favor. You already have His favor or He wouldn't have died for you.
"Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39) Both of these commandments are showing us where to put our focus. It is NOT on ourselves, but rather to:
Here is the "plan." The Bible says:
This ‘put off’ process can be as painful as crucifixion! We are usually so attached to our habits that we wouldn’t know how to function without them. Habits do not change instantaneously. It takes time…perseverance with faith, trust and patience. But God is never going to take something away from us without replacing it with something better. His purposes are ALWAYS for good. Whenever God asks us to ‘put off’ or get rid of some thing in our life that is hindering our walk with Him, He will show us what to ‘put on’. As you have chosen Jesus as your Lord, you are now choosing to "die" to your old habits and be raised up to a new way of thinking. As we mentioned before, this is a maturing process that only begins the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. The books of Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians were written to believers to help them in this process of "putting off" the old and "putting on" the new. You make the choice on a daily basis and God the Father will give you the power through is Holy Spirit and His written Word. The Bible says:
As we mentioned before, this is a maturing process that only begins the day you committed your life to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. It takes time...perseverance with faith, trust and patience. You make the choice on a daily basis and God the Father will give you the power through His Holy Spirit and His written Word. He wants to do this in us because we have already accepted His salvation and agreed for Him to be our Lord. The change in the heart or attitude is not something you can measure. If you tried, you'd be watching yourself instead of keeping your eyes on Jesus and His Word. So it's important to not allow guilt to set in when you don't 'get it right'. Just confess or agree with God that you messed up and keep going. Babies don't walk perfectly when they start out and you won't either. God wants us to recognize the need to lean completely on Him because we have no ability to change ourselves. (see Jeremiah 13:23) So let’s look at some examples of change. In the chart below, the areas listed under the 'put offs' deal with pride, self-belittlement, and self-pity prevent a Christ-like servant attitude in you and are the exact opposite of God's instructions to love Him and others. The sins of envy/greed (covetousness) and jealousy reveal a self-focus which denies God's work and provision in your life. (The answers for Column 4 are found as you scroll down.) |
The Bible tell us about other people who faced "self"
issues. The first thing Jesus did was to attempt to re-direct their focus. Here
is the answer Jesus gave some leaders who were struggling with the issue of
"pride":
The second instruction is similar:|
The Challenge |
Put-off |
Put-on |
God’s Answer |
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Resenting or desiring another’s achievements or possessions. |
Envy/greed |
Contentment |
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The Challenge |
Put-off |
Put-on |
God’s Answer |
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Exalted opinion of self |
Pride |
Humility |
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The Challenge |
Put-off |
Put-on |
God’s Answer |
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Put-down |
Self-belittlement |
Praise to God |
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The Challenge |
Put-off |
Put-on |
God’s Answer |
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Deep concern for personal life |
Self-pity |
Serving others |
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The Challenge |
Put-off |
Put-on |
God’s Answer |
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Demand of exclusive loyalty |
Jealousy |
Patience/ |
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God’s Answer # 1 "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." (Proverbs 14:30) (See also Matthew 6:19-21) |
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God’s Answer # 2 "Clothe
yourselves with humility Toward
one another, because, God Opposes the proud but gives grace To the
humble." |
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God’s Answer # 3 "And He said to me, ‘My grace is Sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, Therefore, I will rather boast about My weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, ….for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) |
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God’s Answer # 4"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others." (Philippians 2:3-4) |
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"Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous;…" (1 Corinthians 13:4) (See also Romans 13:13-14) |
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After a period of time, perhaps a year or so, you will one day recognize that the things that used to upset you, don't anymore. The things and activities you once desired, you don't desire anymore. The places you used to go may not attract you anymore. You seem more contented and peaceful even though everything around you may be falling apart. Then you will praise your Lord for the work He is doing in you as you continue to talk with Him about everything in your life. You are now ready for the last step in learning how to put His plan into practice. This is called "implementation" or training the new person you have become. The next link will give you some helpful steps.
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