In the previous devotional, I described the importance of dismantling the old self and letting go of strongholds that were lodged in our lives . Our thoughts are key factor as to whether we will live life according to the old nature or the new one!!
That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24 (NIV)
Change attitude of the mind
The above scripture tells that the “attitude of our mind” necessitates renewal. The new nature, (us) is like God. That’s the one we are called to feed and nurture, so it can grow strong. At the same time, we are commanded to starve and put to death the old nature!! The attitude of our mind is in need of renewal by thinking differently. The below scripture tells us how to think according to our new nature.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Be redemptive in your thinking
To be redemptive in our thinking will require an intentional, disciplined, alert, faith-filled attitude to think and live!! The world is full of sin and darkness. The above scripture is not telling us to be in denial of what is happening around us. As a matter of fact, it is telling us to think about those things that are true and right. Sometimes what is happening around us isn’t right. There are times that the truth is, something needs to change!! The scripture is not asking us to deny the reality of a situation. However, we are called to think about the situation with hope. With faith we can look at the situation and see it as God sees it, redeemable!! God is a redeeming God, so our new nature must change its attitude and think like Christ!!
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. Ephesians 4:25(NIV)
Speaking truthfully is paramount
We can’t speak falsely in order to maintain relationships. The enemy will use falsehood as an open door to move us into deception and hypocrisy! What is interesting is the scripture tells us we need to speak truthfully “for we are all members of one body”. Can you imagine lying or not telling the truth to one part of your body or trying to deceive it!? Our entire body must to be engaged with what is going on and be in one accord otherwise we could be diagnosed with some mental health problem! In the same manner, we can’t stay healthy as the body of Christ if we are living in falsehood with one another.
Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, Ephesians 4:26(NIV)
Anger must be dealt with immediately
When we’re angry, our flesh desires to continue to mull over the offense by stewing over it and rehashing the situation. And, if possible, tell somebody else about it, so they can justify our anger. Then we think about a plan of retaliation, but all of the above is the work of the flesh. This is when we must die to the flesh and say,” I am not giving the you room to have free reign. I’m not happy about this situation, but listening to you isn’t going to make this better. I can’t leave room for a pity party!! I belong to Christ”!!
And do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:27(NIV)
If we open the door to the enemy in any small way, he will reenter our lives. Those footholds eventually turn into strongholds!! That’s why it is so important to catch the little thought, attitude, falsehood, or anger in its infancy, aborting it quickly, so the enemy cannot lodge himself and start growing it into a stronghold!!
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29(NIV)
Use your speech to build
Just as other people’s words affect us, our words affect others. We don’t want to cause an offense or open a door for someone else to be baited by the enemy. If we have developed redemptive thinking mentioned earlier, then we will speak what is beneficial for others not what we want to unload on other people.
The word “unwholesome ” in King James is translated as “corrupt”
Corrupt (G4550): rotten, putrefied, corrupted by one and no longer fit for use, worn out of poor quality, bad, unfit for use, worthless
Our speech should be loving and nurturing as opposed to harsh and judgmental. Wholesome conversations are good for other people. There is no rottenness to them. They are good quality. We’re helping people to be nurtured with something good and uncorrupt. When our speech is unwholesome, we are tempting the person’s old nature. We should be in the business of building people’s new nature.
How are you doing building your new nature?