Realization hurts……and heals.

I realized something today. If I want more of Jesus then there must be less of me (my fleshly me). John the Baptist said it best when he said, “He must increase, I must decrease.” There is a constant struggle in my body between my nature and the nature of Christ within. Both still exist within me, the one by law, the other by mercy. I must cultivate the nature of Christ if I am to be an overcomer. This is the crux of sanctification, the “working out of my salvation with fear and trembling”. I have a nature that necessitates sacrifice yet I also have a nature that gravitates toward selfishness and pride. The part I have before God is the outworking of my choice to exalt His son in my members. God won’t do my part for me; love has to choose to prove its worth here. This is the dignity of walking worthy and also the pain of this temporal body. The assurance in all of this is that the Spirit bears witness in me that I am a son of God through the realization and conviction extended unto provocation into the reality of the better part. This is a joy and a pain but the pain is only short term for it will pass away. That which I have labored for, however, will bear fruit eternally. This is my hope, the resurrection from the dead, for in it wisdom will be justified. Now……..on with the struggle.