Stripping Off The Old Self
To be prepared for true change is to learn to let go of old ways of thinking
and doing. Detachment is the process of letting go of the familiar so that
the heart and mind can be opened to learning to live by a new way. In other
words, it is, to empty the heart of all that is not of God in order to
prepare a place for Him. It is to empty the hands of treasure held and to
open them to receive the cross.
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,
for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God… Put to
death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity,
passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry)… you have stripped off
the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its
creator.” (Colossians 3.2,3,5,9b-10)
Letting Go
Detachment is a letting go
Of pleasures and treasures held dear;
The process is painful and slow –
The heart’s whole storehouse has to clear.
By grace, the Lord propels the heart
To leave behind all it desires;
With the old ways falling apart,
The lure of sin no longer mires.
He provides ways and means to pry
The heart from what it clings to last;
The cross demands the old ways die –
Left in the dust of all things past.
Though the heart aches with emptiness
And appetites nearly destroyed,
The Lord’s actions are pure kindness –
For He Himself will fill the void!
Let go of all the heart’s treasure;
The Lord repays beyond measure.
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3.30)
Lord, detach me from all that is not of You, so that I may live for You
alone and that You may fill the emptiness of my heart to overflowing. Amen.
in Christ,
