12/30/25- Putting On The New Man

Hey there! I was going through My Utmost for His Highest this morning, and wanted to share some encouragement that I feel God has put on my heart. Today’s entry, December 30th, is titled “And Every Virtue We Possess,” and it is about two things: letting go of/putting to death the old man, and learning to draw in life from the Living Water, our Lord.

The passage of scripture focused on today was Ephesians 4:24, which says “24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” That verse alone is a strong exhortation; Paul reminds us that we aren’t just saved to keep on doing everything we did before, which is the old man, but that we are saved and made new and ought to act like it. This obviously doesn’t mean that we can’t speak the same language or live in the same house as before, or that we need to get into a new body (at least, not right now), but it means that we are to live as the new creation that we are and are being transformed into. Personally, I really like to read the surrounding text whenever scripture is referenced, because oftentimes it explains itself quite well, and this passage is no exception; Ephesians 4:17-32 is a brief but comprehensive breakdown of what it means to “put on the new self” and relinquish our old virtues so that God may cultivate in us the ones that are pleasing to Him: “17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” It reminds me of one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible, Ezekiel 33, where God tells Ezekiel that the righteousness of a righteous man will not save him if he sins, and the wickedness of a wicked man will not make him stumble if he will turn away from his evil: “13 When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. 14 But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, 15 if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.” I love this passage, because it displays with great clarity the impartial judgement of God and how willing He is to receive us if we turn to Him and seek to obey His instructions and take on His virtues.

All of that said, it is difficult to put the old man to death- we literally can’t do it apart from God- and it is ongoing. The criteria established in Ephesians and Ezekiel are challenging, because we all fail at some part of them. I still struggle with reigning in my tongue, for example, and while I don’t swear anymore I still find myself wanting to at times, or making/wanting to make jokes that aren’t exactly wholesome. I struggle with lust due to years of training myself to quietly treat it as an acceptable thing. I struggle to be tender-hearted towards everyone, and to forgive people that have wronged me. I struggle with assurance that I am truly redeemed and forgiven for all the things I have done. I struggle to walk by the statutes that ensure life and not to fall into the iniquity that I felt was acceptable for so many years of my life. Even when I feel that I have grown in an area, I feel the memory and weight of my sin and am frequently aware of the lasting damage that my callousness and hard-heartedness has caused. I am no longer burdened by it, but the weightiness of it in my life grieves me to think about.

Often, to me at least, it feels like I have made it two steps forward here and three steps back somewhere over there. The gap between my own pitiful sanctification and the holiness of God is so overwhelmingly vast that I get a sharp reality check every time I look at Him. I am reminded, by virtue of my own unworthiness, of the glory of God in some way every day. One of my favorite scriptures to help reign in this sense of unworthiness and prevent it from becoming full-blown despair is 1 John 3:18-24: “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” This is deeply reassuring to me, because it instills a quiet confidence that, while obedience to God’s commandments don’t earn my salvation, they are- when combined with an attitude of love and reverence towards God- evidence of His Spirit in me, and His Spirit seals me in His love. I am not enough, and I will never be enough on my own, but He is, and I can be confident in His goodness.

I hope these passages are helpful to you, and either encourage you to take heart that, in spite of yourself, the Lord still has you, or will cause you to take an honest look at yourself and turn to Him so that you won’t be excluded from the life of God. This will likely be the last post that I make this year, and I think it is a good note to end on. Please, be safe, and remember to live for eternity, not just another day. Happy New Year!