Asserting Our 'Self'

July 6

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:6, “To be carnally minded is death…” Now there’s a disconcerting statement! Because we are ‘in the flesh,’ because we live and move and have our being in these bodies of ours, it is natural to think like flesh-bound creatures. It is natural to be preoccupied with life and love and making a living and preserving all we value.

Yes, it is. From the moment of birth, we are asserting ours ‘self.’ Babies, cute and wonderful though they are, can be quite demanding creatures. If they’re hungry, they cry. If they’re dirty, we must change them. If they’re sleepy, they will project a tyrannical wail through the air waves until we give them a bottle and settle them in for a nap.

Adults may take on the ‘niceties’ of good manners and subtle methods of attaining their purposes, but they still pursue what they want, when they want it with a single eye. Depending upon the cleverness of the individual, he will succeed or fail in his pursuit of all to which he aspires. It’s natural that he make the attempt. But the natural man can never please God and the natural man cannot ultimately please himself.

The above-quoted verse goes on to say, “…but the mind controlled by the Spirit of God is life and peace.” When a man has given himself to the Savior, he is no longer controlled by the demands of the flesh. A man surrendered to Christ needs no longer to attempt to make himself ‘number one.’ The man who has laid his life at the Savior’s feet desires that Jesus be Number One. The surrendered man wants Jesus to be exalted.