Which Nature Wins Your Heart?

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have two natures.

You have a new nature. On a good day, you bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc., and you experience an unexplainable peace and joy of the Lord.

However, that could all change on a dime.

Tomorrow you can be mean and petty and selfish. We all have that old nature. We all come short of the glory of God. That old nature also bears fruit, called the works of the flesh, and it’s rotten to the core.

Just as there’s no good in the old nature, there’s no power in the new nature. You must have help to live the Christian life. Only when the Spirit of God works in you can you produce that good fruit. Jesus invites us to ask Him for help and also tells us He will prune us to get the good fruit.

You can tell which nature is in control by looking at the fruit in someone’s life. (See Matthew 7:20.) When you look at a fellow believer in Jesus Christ, you should see three things: They are trying to walk God’s way, they don’t make a practice of sin, and they are loving their brother and sister in Christ. Do you have a concern for them? This trademark of love is proof that we’ve “passed from death to life” (1 John 3:14).

So, we as Christians have two natures—an old one and a new one. The new nature wants to please God. Our old nature still thinks we can do it our way. Don’t feel like praying? That’s your old nature talking, thinking it doesn’t need God. In our natural state, we are unable to please God; the carnal mind is at war against Him. Which is true of a believer? Is he prone to wander, or is he prone to worship? Likely both are true.

How wonderful it is we have God’s example of love to follow. The real proof that God loves us is when He gave His Son to die for us. With Jesus as our example, we now should be willing to lay down our lives for the brothers.

How does this love in action work itself out? Sacrificially. We’re not just out for ourselves. If you see someone in need and have the means to do something about it, then do it. God is the one who gave you plenty, now use it to help His people. It may not be necessary to give our lives, but certainly, it is necessary to give of our substance.

Christianity is a love relationship. Real love gets into the action. Our tongue is very good at running ahead of our feet, but true Christianity is a matter of the heart. We demonstrate this kind of love.

When your life pleases God, you can expect Him to hear and answer your prayer. You are in His will when you use your resources to get the things He wants done. When we obey God’s orders and follow His plans, and make it our mission to please Him, we receive whatever we ask Him for. His love characterizes our life, and His Spirit—alive in every child of God—makes these things real to our hearts.

1. How much time do you spend living in the old nature on an average day? Would it be often, sometimes, occasionally, frequently, rarely, or something else?

2. Who do you know who is a good example of loving other Christians? What can you learn from this person that you can copy?

3. The love we should display for other Christians is to be sacrificial. What are some ways you can practice this with specific people in your life?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee's complete audio teachings of 1 John 3:1-9, 1 John 3:8-12, 1 John 3:10-17 and 1 John 3:17—4:1.