By Lisa Greey —
That’s how I used to be. We’ve all said that at one time or another. As human beings, we change and grow. We abandon old bad habits and develop new ones. Sometimes we stop our good habits too! This can happen in our spiritual lives as well, especially when we first fully give our lives to Christ. It is one thing to grow
up Catholic and go through the motions of your faith. It is another thing to have a personal encounter with Christ that causes you to change some of those deeper habits of sin. This is what today’s second reading teaches us about today.
St Paul says that after an encounter with Christ, “you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires.” We all have areas that need the light of Christ. We have habits we hang on to even after we make the decision to follow Him. Can you think of what these areas might be for you? Maybe you are really good at going to mass and paying attention on Sunday, but you struggle with gossip. Perhaps you even take the time to pray, but you really struggle with purity. How do you overcome these areas? St Paul goes on to say that we need to “be renewed by the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self.” Does the new self – which means conforming myself to Christ – mean that part of the old self will completely change? Will my outgoing personality become shy? Will my love for rock music turn into a love for Gregorian chant? Probably not! The “new self” that St Paul speaks about refers to the sinful parts of ourselves that are redeemed through Christ. So the good already present in us – our talents, different interests and friendships – that are already in line with Christ will remain, and even grow.
Meanwhile, the other parts – inclinations to certain sins – will be redeemed in Christ. St Paul concludes this verse but saying the “new self” is “created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” If that’s what the new self is all about, who wouldn’t want to “put on the new self” in Christ!
Leave a Reply