Stop Evaluating Yourself After the Flesh
I tend to view life based on my five senses more than I should… I know you don’t do that, I’m the issue here!
For example, if I fail in a situation, I see a bill I don’t like, or I hear news that’s negative and it can start to “wear on me”. Stuff begins to bother me and I begin to see myself and my situation through the limiting lens of my five senses, evaluating things only on what I can do within myself.
So, from time to time I have to sit down with myself and have a conversation, strange I know. Oftentimes, I need to talk to myself and set myself straight!
What is the proper viewpoint of my situation or more importantly how should I view myself?
“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” 2 Cor. 5:16
Literally the verse reads, “From this point forward, refuse to pay attention to or perceive with your senses ANY ONE according to outward appearances as if they were apart from God and His influence…”
In 2 Corinthians 5:16, Paul the Apostle admonishes believers to STOP evaluating other believers by what is seen on the outside. But the key point I’m making here is this – we must remember that this includes ourselves!
I’m included in that ANY ONE.
If you’re born-again, you have the Spirit of Christ living on the inside of you within your born-again spirit (Romans 8:9, I Cor. 6:17). You’re not just the person you see in the mirror every day, that’s just your body outer shell but not the real you. You’re not just the person that you or your spouse or coworkers see or experience every day with their five senses – but you’re more than just that. We interact with each other on the exterior. But the Bible says, you are a new creation. One version of the scripture actually translates I Corinthians 5:17 as you’re a “new species of being of that has never existed before”. Something has happened on the inside of you and it’s supernatural. God Himself has taken up residence within you.
What has happened to me?
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Cor 5:17-18
What old things have passed away and what specifically has become new? Your old man has passed away along with your old nature. You now have a new man and new nature living within, the very life and nature of God. Your spirit man is now made alive and is brand new in Christ.
This changes things…
“Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you.” 1 Cor. 6:19
If you’re viewing yourself only from the outside, only from what you can perceive in the flesh, only from your five senses, then you’re going to get discouraged real quick. You fail, you’re limited, you don’t have all the answers within your self (that is your unrenewed mind). You may look at what the Bible says about you and then you look at yourself and you think… I don’t feel like I’m more than conqueror, I don’t feel like I’m healed, I don’t feel like I’m filled with peace, I don’t feel like…. well stop trying to “feel it” and believe it! You’re a man or a woman of God and you’re FILLED with God on the inside.
Moreover, if you’re simply viewing your situation from the outside you can get discouraged quick again. But thank God you’re not JUST a man! You’re not just a woman! You’re not JUST a plumber, an accountant, a factory worker, but you are a child of God and He lives in you. He has wisdom for the asking and its all within you because He is within you.
My encouragement to you is to stop looking at yourself based on the flesh or the outward exterior. If you’re born-again, then you have God living on the inside of you and there is more to you than meets the eye. As we’ve established, the Holy Spirit lives within you. Depend upon His wisdom and life to meet your needs throughout your day. See yourself not as others see you or even as you see yourself in the mirror, but see yourself as God does in the spirit – as more than a conqueror, healed, etc. If you’re a child of God, you have access to resources that the rest of the world does not. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit and you have power to overcome the world and any obstacle that life may throw at you. The greater one lives in you.
From this point forward, we regard NO ONE after the flesh, not even ourselves.
