The Old Me Is Dead And Gone

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Oooo,hey I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just trying to find my way back home
The old me is dead and gone… dead and gone…
Ooooooo I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just trying to find my way back home
The old me is dead and gone… dead and gone… eeyy

T.I. and Justin Timberlake have a great song where T.I. talks about how his old behavior got him into trouble, lost a good friend, and how he is focused toward living the rest of his life the right way. The chorus is powerful, “The old me is dead and gone.” At some point in life, we all want what T.I. wants. We desire life Change. WE want to put our mistakes behind us and to live a life that reflects God’s grace, to stay away from drama, and just live our lives. We want to say to all of our naysayers, “that’s not me anymore, the old me is dead and gone.”

The Apostle Paul was able to say it. Interestingly, he said it in reference to being religious and not rowdy. He had been sent to preach to those who were not religious, the gentiles or the uncircumcised. He put Peter on blast for acting like he was too good to hang out with uncircumcised people when his Jewish friends came in town. Peter was hanging out with uncircumcised people when there were no religious people around.

When you become a Christian, it doesn’t mean that you have to stop associating with people who are not in church. Because of your past mistakes it gives you better leverage to talk to people who don’t know him. One of the things that T.I. is doing now is hosting a show called Road to Redemption where he goes into neighborhoods to talk to young people caught up in the streets to show them a better way. He uses his own life and the mistakes he made to try to reach them. He basically says, ‘the old me is dead and gone and you can do better too so you want make the mistakes I made.” We don’t do anybody any good acting like we ain’t never did anything wrong. But we can help them more when we can show them that the old me is dead and gone .

Paul blasted Peter to his face and asked him how was he going to go back to old ways when Jesus had delivered them from the law. Peter was trying to make his uncircumcised friends live by the old tradition God delivered him from. Paul was like man why you acting brand new when the old you is dead and gone?

In order for me to reach people who don’t know God and are heading for a dead end, the old me has to get out of the way. Paul said:

1. I have been crucified with Christ. There are some traits that I don’t like about myself that keep me separated from God. When Jesus was crucified he nailed all those things to the cross. When I accept Jesus as my Lord and savior those habits, hang ups get nailed to the cross.

2. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. The way I’m able to live and love like God wants me to is because the Holy Spirit now lives in me. I have the mind of Christ that causes me to think different and love people the way Jesus would.

3. The life I live in the flesh, I live by faith in Jesus who loves me and gave himself for me. My lifestyle now reflects who I am in Jesus even when I’m around people that don’t know him. My life in the flesh used to be all about me. Now it’s all about how God can get glory out of my life.

Dear God, thank you for helping me to reach the unreached. I used to be religious but didn’t have authentic relationship with you or with people. Once I got out of the way, you were able to reach more people. I thank you for delivering me from religious people and their opinions. It’s about saving people who don’t know your love and not getting caught up trying to fit in with church people. Thank you for saving me and sending me in a New Direction.

In Jesus name,

Amen.