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When we focus on the things Christ commanded of us, there is not enough space in our lives to please our sinful nature. Romans 14:14 says, Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. By covering our minds, and in turn our lives, with Christ, there is no room for the evil desires of our heart. When we study who Christ is and how we can exemplify Him, we reflect him through us. May each of us strive to be more like Christ, and not necessarily what other people tell us to be like, but by studying His words and following His commandments.
Two verses stood out to me, one of them the same as your reflection, Dino. But these are from the CEV. I’ve grown so accustomed to the NIV translation, and this translation brought fresh eyes to it.
12: 2 Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think.
13: 14 Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won’t try to satisfy your selfish desires.
Both of these verses take a lot of stress of off me :). We have this idea that we have to try really hard to be like Jesus. But essentially what Paul is saying here is a) let God change the way you think and b) Let Jesus be as close to you as the clothes you wear. The effort in both of these scenarios is merely the laying down of our pride, which, I will admit, can be so stinking hard at times. But if we can get there, God will change how we think. Jesus will be as near to us as the clothing we wear. It’s an act of surrender, and then God moves in and does his incredible work. I may not be good at surrender, but I at least know how to do it. 🙂 That’s a huge load off my back!
Surrender is one of the toughest things for me to do. I’m such a control freak. But I know once I do it and He takes over, then things start to fall into place.