2 Corinthians 5: 16 - 17 NKJV
Not too many people in this day and age recall the old television series Leave It To Beaver. Sure, there may be more than a few, but not many. One of my favorite characters from this popular series was the wise cracking teen Eddie Haskel. If there was ever a poster child for a obnoxious kid...it would be Eddie. Now, I can honestly say that there were times in my younger days when I may have modeled myself after Eddie, but that didn't last too long. However, I have known quite a few people who seem to have studied at the Eddie Haskel school of interpersonal relations. We all know them, they always have a negative comment or a wise crack waiting to inject into any conversation. I think about Eddie whenever I come across someone who defines his personality. There a number of self improvement books and videos out there which claim to teach us on exactly how to handle those Eddie Haskels in our life. Like I said, there are times when that ghost of Eddie is reincarnated in my own life as well. Is this simply an issue of how to deal with those negative people around us? I would say no for one very important reason. Are our own behaviors a true indicator of that person we truly are? It's a well known fact that our own behaviors will be heavily influenced by events around us. A friend makes a negative comment and we all of a sudden get defensive. On the other hand, a child at play will more often than not elicit good natured behaviors. So, obviously, our own behaviors may not be a true indicator of that person we truly are. The apostle Paul hit the nail on the head when addressing this issue in his letter to the Corinthians. Paul advised them not to judge others by their flesh any longer. I take this to mean that we are not to judge others by their very behaviors or mannerisms. I know that this might throw some people for a loop, but I believe that Paul saw the bigger picture. What would Eddie Haskels reaction have been if Mr. Cleaver had simply claimed "Eddie, is that who you really are?" A good question.
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."
Galations 2: 20 NKJV
For me to accept what Paul was saying, I had to understand just who it is that I was inside. Who was Scott? Well, most people would stake a claim about who I was after spending just a few minutes with me. Judging by the flesh. So, how is it that we can see our own behaviors, which are easily influenced by those events around us, as a true indicator of who it is we really are? A key verse to help us understand this also came from the apostle Paul. In Galations 2 he writes that it is no longer he who lives but Christ who lives in him {Galations 2:20}. Wait, Jesus lives in me? Well, yes, and not just in me but in others as well. Yes, even Eddie Haskel. What Paul was trying to tell us in Corinthians is that because the Spirit of Christ resides in all who accept Him, we are not to judge them by the flesh any longer. Instead, when we come across a graduate of the Eddie Haskel college of human interaction we should inquire, "is that who you really are?" However, if you choose to go this route, be prepared for more than a few blank stares in response. See, what Paul mentioned way back when really isn't seen as truth by too many people on the christian side. A good friend of mine likes to say that these people do not realize who it is that they really are. Therefore, they continue to see themselves as bound by their behaviors, by their flesh. I was there once. However, I found it hard to see myself as governed by my flesh if the Spirit of Christ Jesus is indeed in me. I also found it difficult to see others by their own behaviors if I knew in my own heart that the same Spirit of Christ was also in them. I wonder what Eddie Haskel would have said had he known who he really was.
6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be adone away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.7For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV
~Scott~
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