How’s Your New Self?

One of my sons is a golfer and plays on his high school golf team. Last season during one of his matches, I was riding around watching in a cart with his coach.

The first few holes started off well. By the 5th hole things were going down fast. It got so bad I looked at his coach and asked what I needed to help him work on with his swing.

His coach looked at me and said, “Nothing…his swing is perfect. His problem is his mental game.”

The next hole my son hit a horrible tee shot. His coach asked me what he did after the shot.

I said, “Got angry…stomped around…almost threw his club.”

He said, “Right…and there is no way with that mental game he is going to hit a good chip shot onto the green next.”

Well the coach was right. The next chip was awful.

So I asked what I should do. The coach said, “Nothing…most grow out of it.”

What’s similar about golf and your spiritual growth is a bad mental game hurts each.

What’s very different about golf and spiritual growth is that when it comes to spiritual growth, we don’t simply grow out of a bad mental game. We have to work at maintaining a positive mental game.

This is why in Ephesians 4:22-23, Paul writes,

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

To experience spiritual growth, you must put off more of your old self and put on more of your new self. Your old self is the self which gets you to disobey God. Your new self is the self which causes you to be more and more obedient to God.

More new self and less old self…that’s the key…but how?

The answer is by being made new in the attitude of your mind. The reason is your body always follows your mind. Sometimes we make the mistake of believing putting on more new self and less old self is a physical game. The more obedient I am the more new self I put on. The more I disobey God the more old self I put on.

Now it is true you can tell how much old or new self you are wearing by looking at your behaviors. The more Godly your behaviors, the more new self you are wearing. But the issue is not figuring out what you are wearing at the moment. The issue is how to put on more new self and take off more old self.

This requires that you be made new in the attitude of your mind.

But you still ask…but how?

The best way to continually be made new in the attitude of your mind is to spend time every day with God. Every day.

Don’t skip a day. Don’t take a break. Meet with God every day of your life.