“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
Romans 1:28-30, 32
I have been learning we can’t be like God ever, it is truly only letting God live in us and surrendering to Him daily! He gets all the glory. It can feel like we are not free when we mess up. That we are still bound. No that is not true but our flesh ruling! Because of Christ, the word says, Galatians 2:20 New International Version (NIV)
“20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
When we come to this revelation that without Christ living in us, Holy Spirit taking over every area of our lives, we end up giving place to the flesh as Romans 1 says. Since they did not see fit to acknowlege God, or walk in the Spirit, the word says they became lovers of themselves. We need to love Christ in us and love ourselves through the Holy Spirit! But our focus is not ourselves it is Christ in us the Hope of glory and his love!