Being Made NewSample

Self-Examination: The Best Preventative

This week, we have worked our way through Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth. Over and over again, we have seen Paul encourage the believers there to embrace their new identity in Christ. To leave behind those things that marked their former life and to embrace and demonstrate the fact that Christ is in them. Their hearts and minds have undergone the transformation of the old dying away and the new coming.

At the end of the letter, Paul offers a test that we all need.

He gives us a practice that saves us from the pain and frustration of realizing that we still sometimes surrender to the habits of the former ways:

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

The practice of self-examination is a vital part of being a Jesus-follower.

But we must understand the purpose of this examination.

It is to determine whether or not we are “in Christ.”

And how do we know that?

We examine ourselves in the light of becoming a new creation. Do we increasingly practice the ways of Jesus? Are we growing in generosity? Do we give in to the thinking of our former selves? Do we lean more and more on God’s strength instead of our own?

The answers to these questions will help us see and accept that we are in Jesus, and Jesus is in us.

When we realize that truth, we will further embrace our new life in Him.

Prayer: Jesus, Savior, renewer of life, thank You for the life that You live in and through me. Thank You for the gift of newness. Help me show those around me that You have made me a new creation. Amen.

Reflection: Spend some time reflecting on the question of how your life reflects the life and teaching of Jesus. In what ways are you doing well? What areas need some attention?

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