Romans 8:6-11
If your sinful old self is the boss over your mind, it leads to death. But if the Holy Spirit is the boss over your mind, it leads to life and peace. The mind that thinks only of ways to please the sinful old self is fighting against God. It is not able to obey God’s Laws. It never can. Those who do what their sinful old selves want to do cannot please God. But you are not doing what your sinful old selves want you to do. You are doing what the Holy Spirit tells you to do, if you have God’s Spirit living in you. No one belongs to Christ if he does not have Christ’s Spirit in him. If Christ is in you, your spirit lives because you are right with God, and yet your body is dead because of sin. The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. If the same Holy Spirit lives in you, He will give life to your bodies in the same way. Romans 8:6-11 (NLV)
Paul is speaking to the Romans. He is trying to tell them the importance of accepting Christ into their lives versus living a life of sin without the presence of Jesus. It is a tall directive that is still important to those of us reading it today. When we are faced with decisions or actions, especially those that impact others, we can ask ourselves, ‘what would Jesus do?’ Many day-to-day decisions that we make don’t require that level of inspection, e.g. whether to use a pencil or a ballpoint pen to write my devotion. But ‘should I make room at my table for someone I do not know?’ is a seemingly minor question but it certainly can reflect one’s biases. Suppose that person is of a different race. My old sinful self might say, ‘there is no room’ when in fact there are five empty chairs. If the Holy Spirit is truly in my life I would extend a welcoming hand. Suppose I am a politician who is trying to get a bill passed that would benefit me and my friends but harm a group of others in our community. What would Jesus do? In this case I truly believe he would either abandon the bill or modify it, so others are not harmed. Many of the decisions and actions that we make are often made without such introspection. But the general nature of our many decisions and actions will reflect who shows up. Was it the old ‘sinful self’ or the self that is influenced by the presence of the Holy Spirit? I suspect most of us have times when the ‘sinful old self’ automatically jumps into the picture. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. We need to step back and ask for that forgiveness when greed overtakes us!
Questions for Reflection:
- Does your ‘sinful old self’ ever show up in the things you do? If so, do you recognize that effect and then ask Jesus for help?
- Overall, how do you think you would fare if Jesus showed up with a list of the things you have done over the past year? Would you be embarrassed or proud of your behavior?
Prayer:
Dear Lord, please help me stay on track and pay attention to guidance from the Holy Spirit. If I am confused about what action(s) I should take, help me answer the question, “what would Jesus do”? Help me instill the Holy Spirit in my thinking and actions. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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