Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], Ephesians 4:22-23(AMPC)
Imagine you have a beautiful bouncing baby and he’s left you a little smelly surprise. As you hold him out away from you and wrinkle your nose, a light bulb goes off in your brain.
You grab the baby powder and a diaper. You have no desire to mess with what he’s got in that diaper. So instead of removing it, you sprinkle powder madly and slap on a new diaper—on top of the old one. Doing the sniff test, you think, “Wow, this is awesome! Smells like new!”
Two hours later, with the first diaper breaking through into the new one, you are back in the same predicament. So, you sprinkle away and slap on another diaper. Crazy, right?
Well, that’s what most of us do with our emotional lives.
Ephesians 4: 22-23 tells us to put off our old selves, getting rid of the old beliefs in our hearts that we are just trying to cover with something new.
God’s Word has an amazing ability to reveal what “smelly surprises” you have just beneath the surface. Let God do a little surgery in your life. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s Word is sharper than a two-edged sword. It can divide between beliefs that are false and the truth. Be willing to let things get a bit messy and ask the Holy Spirit to make God’s Word come alive to you.