...that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside your old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth...(Ephesians 4:22-24)
I was intent on writing about some other things that have occupied my mind quite a bit, but then, something came up in the last three days that got me thinking deep both inwardly and outwardly. As i kept thinking, i kept seeing the picture coming out together. Today, i am going to write about something that cuts across borders and cultures, something that we in Uganda and i bet the greater Africa, and people here each seem to be struggling with, some have the knowledge that they are struggling with it while others have no idea that it even exists. This thing is called SELF. Some Bible translations call it the flesh.
I want to look at it not from the point of necessarily sin, but how it steadily drags us away from the Lord.
From the streets, in the restaurants, in people's homes, everywhere, you see people struggling with self. Self is the most selfish thing to ever exist. Self wants everything, and no matter how much you try to satisfy it, it just keeps asking and demanding for more. In Uganda for instance, self manifests itself in demanding for particular foods, dressing, electronic gadgets, jobs, etc. I believe it's the same here only that the degree and magnitude here is much higher; but everywhere, people are battling with self.
The above scripture is very clear, that we lay aside our old self. In my culture, when one receives Christ, then you are expected to lay aside drinking any kind of alcohol, abuse, dressing in certain ways, immorality, etc. All of us tend to look at the bigger things and not think about the smaller detail. For example, it's common to find that each time you want to pray, self will bring tens of propositions of different things you could do instead, how well you could spend your time other than doing something that will bring you closer to the Lord. One striking example is found in Matthew 26:39-41...And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as You will." And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watching an praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
You can see that self got hold of those who were closer to the Lord. And i love the master's reminder to us to keep watching and praying...because the spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. This has always been the case ever since the fall. Our selfish self can keep us away from gathering with others, it gives us shame of the things we are not supposed to be ashamed off, it battles with us to drift from the things of the spirit, from the truth and keeps our minds set on the things that don't really matter.
One of the things self does is to try to calmly and systematically drift you away from the Lord without you ever noticing. It can be an addiction to a particular thing. For me usually, is an addiction to play FIFA Football game even when i know i shouldn't be, to others, it may be something else. I have seen people religiously standing in long lines waiting for a chance to buy their iphone 6! I keep wondering, would they be patient like that if that was a line to enter church on a Sunday morning or would some of them just give up and return back home? Self will make you buy what you absolutely don't need, go to places that you don't have to go and do things that seem right in your eyes and yet not so important in the eyes of the Lord. The enemy, satan, is right there trying to work with self, attempting to deceive the believer that you absolutely deserve everything you want. Apostle Peter tells us that: "For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall off, But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which was preached to you." 1Peter 1:24-25.
This explains why self is never satisfied and keeps asking for more and more. Because it keeps withering and as Solomon put it, "it's like chasing after the wind".
Self knows no race or economic status. In Africa, it subjects people to different yearnings compared to here, but all that you see in their eyes, is a yearning for something. I think self is our number one enemy. Examining ourselves everyday, we need to ask whether we are living lives that are pleasing to the self or to the spirit. One man that i keep admiring and someone who fought self more than all of us is Paul. Some times i ask my self what kind of man Paul was. This is what the man said: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer i who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which i now live in the flesh i live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20. Paul learned to dominate self and allowed Christ to live through him. This is a call to all of us to follow, African or Americans, to give up and deny self and allow Christ, through the Holy Spirit to live and express himself through us. Because on our own, we can not manage to dominate and repress self and all its cravings, but through Christ, our minds are renewed day by day and as a result, we are able to battle self and dominate it.
I hope this post has made sense to all of us. Grace and peace to you all.
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