Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. (Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT) Since - you used to live one way, but now you are called to live another. The precipitating factor to live differently? You know Jesus and have asked him to be your Lord and Savior. The result? You live differently - making different choices, casting off things within your 'former life' that did not bring honor to him, and focusing on those things that do. Instead - replace one thing with another. Jesus never asks us to lay aside or cast away anything in our lives that is 'worthwhile' or truly of 'value'. He may ask us to leave some activities because they are a 'time suck' for us, or they aren't doing much to imp...
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. (I Corinthians 13:1-3 NLT) If I could - those are the most telling words about the motivation behind our actions, aren't they? If I could, I would... These are the words we most often speak when we want to do something but somehow have ourselves talked into not doing it or being incapable of doing it. The real telling words of this passage are not those, though. They are: 'but didn't love others'. The motivation matters, yes, but the heart behind the motivation matters most! We can have a l...