Knowing Christ

“Be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and put on the new self,
created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”

Ephesians 4:23-24

As baptized Christians, we are a new creation. This means that we must live our lives embodying the joy of the Gospel. Knowing Jesus changes everything. It changes what we have come to believe about ourselves. It changes what we have come to believe about the world. It changes what we have come to believe about God. Knowing Christ changes our lives and we must never go back.

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul implores the people to get rid of their old selves and to put on their new selves and to be renewed. He tells the people that they have been re-created in the “righteousness and holiness of truth.” Righteousness is right relationship with God and holiness of truth means to be set apart by God to live in His truth. Being Christians means then we must live in a way that is distinct from others; we must live knowing that this earthly life is but a journey and that our final destination, our true homeland is heaven. We live not for this world, but for heaven, and every thing that we thing, say, and do ought to reflect this mode of living. Do the words that I let pass my lips build others up and help them and ourselves grow closer to God? Do that things I choose to do reflect the joy and holiness of heaven? Do my thoughts increase my desire for God and heaven? These are the questions we must ask ourselves. If our answer is “no” then we do not really know Christ and we have slowly falling into the trap of the world. For knowing Christ means we know that we do not belong to the world. Have we cast off our old selves and put on the new or do we cling on to our old selves, afraid of what the world might say about us?

So, brothers and sisters, do you possess the surpassing joy of knowing Christ?

Click below to watch this week’s reflection on the Bread of Life.