If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17
Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18). How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind . . . is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God— such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.
Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord.
I dont actually consciously think and believe that you will skip over my prejudices while dealing with others. The variation that I tend toward is acknowledging that my sin is there in me, and will be dealt with someday … but in the meantime it’s covered by your blood. So I try to focus on what you have already done in me and not on what is yet to be done. Focusing on trying to improve my sinful parts falls into “Sin Management” or Guilt Management, and only makes me a better Pharisee … which adds pride and judgementalism to my list of problems. So I walk in some level of freedom, knowing that there is sin in me, sin that will be dealt with … But it will happen in your way and your time. My job is simply to show up, Surrendered and ready for whatever molding toward Christlikeness that you have for me today. Surrendered of all that you’ve already shown me and ready to surrender to whatever you show me today.
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