JMD Devotional 253 Ephesians 4:17-24 Impulse-Driven

So this I say and solemnly testify in [the name of] the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the heathen (the Gentiles) do in their perverseness [in the folly, vanity, and emptiness of their souls and the futility] of their minds. Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the willful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart [to the insensitiveness of their moral nature]. In their spiritual apathy they have become callous and past feeling and reckless and have abandoned themselves [a prey] to unbridled sensuality, eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity [that their depraved desires may suggest and demand].

But you did not so learn Christ! Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him], Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.

We excuse a poor purchase as something we ‘bought on impulse’. Impulsive behavior is spontaneous, not well thought out, random, risky, often foolish and regretted in retrospect. But for many souls their modus operandi is to be running on ‘impulse’. Most of the time we have no idea of what is behind our impulsive behavior; psychoanalysis might bring out something embarrassing, like trauma over potty training, or childhood emotional abandonment or unresolved sibling rivalry. Do we as adults really want to be the puppets of our woundedness? Rather, to live by reason, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, being deliberate in our choices, knowing who we are and what we want to do and following through with that fits the dignity of a Child of God, made in His image. Letting our impulses continue to rule us only adds to our shame. Maturity is fundamentally saying no to our impulses and yes to higher principles. We need to put on this maturity and spiritual attitude daily to live well.

Dear God,
How my flesh resists spiritual disciplines! I know that they are rich with reward; but I want holiness later, not now. Please help me to grow up in Christ, to want what is best. Help us all to examine why we do things contrary to our beliefs; bring healing to our broken past so we can live freely today. May we know who we are and where we are going: reveal Your will for our lives that we may honor it.
Amen

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