Hope for Transformation Shembull

It is the Holy Spirit who brings about transformation, empowering us to live the life of Jesus. Instead of feeding fleshly desires, we are enabled to invest our lives in God’s purposes for the world.  

Receiving the Holy Spirit and being led by Him is the only way to live the Christian life. Christ lives His life in and through us as we:  

• Believe by faith that God is already resident in our lives by His Spirit   
• Allow Christ to remain on the throne of our lives   
• Choose to respond to the prompting, rebuking and urging of His Spirit to live in obedience to Christ   
• Believe by faith that when we act in obedience He will empower us  

All this is made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus! We can join Christ in dying on the cross and being raised to new life. Our greed, our spite, our selfishness can be put to death in Jesus’ crucifixion. But Jesus didn’t die just to take away our sin. He conquered death in the resurrection so that our sinful self could be replaced with something better, a new life characterised by the presence of God Himself, by love, humility and forgiveness.  

‘I had a coursemate who I couldn’t stand. I realised my impatience and hostility towards him clashed with my calling to imitate Jesus. I decided to treat him with kindness and respect and asked the Holy Spirit to give me the love and patience I needed. This is one of the ways my ‘old self’ was crucified and replaced with the image of Jesus.’ 

Turning away from sin and seeking the power of the Spirit to become a reflection of the goodness of God is the application of the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection in our lives. When we seek the Spirit’s help to live in a holy way, to reflect God’s goodness, we are experiencing the fruit of salvation: freedom from sin and death.  

Reflection

How can you put the ‘old self’ to death today? How can you imitate Christ instead? 

Thank you, Jesus, for the difference your death and resurrection makes. Help us to follow you to the cross, to crucify the old self with you, and to practise putting on the new self to become like you.