PUTTING OFF THE OLD MAN ...

PUTTING OFF THE OLD MAN ...

" ... that you put off, concerning your former conduct,
the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts."
Colossian 3:9

Who is the "old man" that the Apostle Paul instructs us to "put off?"
For the next several days, I want to help you understand who the old man
is - you are probably extremely familiar with him, more so than you want
to admit.

I want to share this picture through the eyes of Ruth Paxson whose
classic work on victorious Christian living has been a blessing to so
many over the years:

""Let us take a full-length portrait of this hideous, heinous self; let
us face honestly his manifold operations and see if we are not forced to
accept GOD'S estimation of him and to acquiesce in the method of
deliverance from his sovereignty. The foundation of life in the NATURAL
MAN is foursquare: self-will, self-love, self-trust, and
self-exaltation, and upon this foundation is reared a superstructure
that is one HUGE capital "I." Self-will is the cornerstone and
self-exaltation is the capstone."

"SELF-WILL" - "We have turned every one to his own way." The flesh wants
its OWN way and is determined to have it even if it defies and disobeys
God and overrides others."I WILL" is the alphabet out of which self
fashions its language of life.

"SELF-CENTEREDNESS" - "the old man" feeds upon himself. He is the
beginning and the end. Life presents little that interests or affects
him except as it relates to HIMSELF. He is the center of the world in
which he lives and moves and he always looks out for number one.

"SELF-ASSERTION" - "the old man" believes that everyone is as interested
in him and as fascinated by him as he himself is, so he protrudes and
projects himself into the sight, hearing, and the notice of others
continually. He monopolizes conversations and the theme is always "I,"
"my" and "mine." He walks with a swagger and expects the world to stop
work and look at him. And he never dreams how offensive his
self-importance is to others.

"SELF-DEPRECIATION" - "the old man" is very versatile and sometimes it
suits his purpose better to clothe his pride in a false humility. He
curls up in his self-depreciation and shirks a lot of hard work which
other people have to do. He magnifies his littleness and feebleness to
his own advantage, yet with strange inconsistency he resents others'
taking his professed estimate of himself and treating him accordingly.

'SELF-CONCEIT" - "the old man" lives so much in himself that he does not
know how big the world is in which he lives and how many other really
intelligent people there are in it, so he has little regard for the
opinions of others, especially if contrary to his own. He looks with
proud and supercilious pity upon those less favored and gifted than
himself.

"SELF-LOVE" - "the old man" loves HIMSELF supremely, one might say
almost exclusively. He loves God not at all and his human love for
others is tainted more or less with selfishness, jealousy, envy or
impurity. Indeed, "the old man" makes an idol of HIMSELF which he not
only loves but worships.

"SELF-INDULGENT" - "the old man" eats, drinks, and is merry. For him to
want anything is equivalent to having it. He pampers and coddles
himself; he can even indulge his extravagant, fleshly appetites while
others starve to death before his eyes.

"SELF-PLEASING" - "the old man" chafes under discomfort and deprivation
and is grumpy and peevish unless EVERYTHING in the life of HIS day
ministers to real or imagined needs. He lives unto only ONE person whose
name is SELF! (Adapted from LIFE ON THE HIGHEST PLANE by Ruth Paxson.)

Will share more over the next several days. No wonder Paul said, "O
wretched man that I am!"

Great Quote: When you become consumed by God's call on your life,
everything will take on new meaning and significance. You will begin to
see every facet of your life - including your pain - as a means through
which God can work to bring others to Himself. Charles Stanley