Tuesday, December 26, 2017

DENNIS
 Good morning everyone. I am Dennis Gossett with Central United Methodist Church. In the Letter to the Colossians, Paul references the “old self” and the “new self.” Another way of stating it could be the false self and the true self. The false self is the image of ourselves that we manage to cobble together over time to generate a sense of identity and self-worth or none at all. The new or true self is the image of God alive or waiting to be awakened in our inmost being. Real Christianity is the journey from the old or false self to the new or true self. Until we embark on this journey, we are destined to live a lie. This old or false self must be taken off, deconstructed, crucified, dead, and buried. This only happens when we dare to believe the gloriously beautiful truth about ourselves. We are created in the image of God. We are deeply known by God and we are profoundly loved by God, and because God loves us, we are, in fact, lovable and worthy of love. When we believe and are renewed in the knowledge of God and the Gospel, we then can proclaim to our old self that “I am no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.” Have a blessed day.