Daily Bible Verse ~ Galatians 2:20

“I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.” Gal 2:20

As I consider this verse today, being crucified becomes more difficult than I can imagine. The bloodied beatings, the nails penetrating the hands and feet, the humiliation. It made me so thankful that I have a Savior who took the cross for me. One who bore the sin of all mankind.

Jesus gave Himself up for me. He knew full and well what He was accomplishing that day and selflessly sacrificed His body for my soul. And now I am asked to live my life for Him. To crucify my fleshly desires and kill anything that doesn’t look like it reflect Jesus in my life.

Just as Jesus was resurrected from the dead, I too am resurrected and now live a new life. Paul tells us in this verse that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. We were designed to be a dwelling-place of the spirit of God. God didn’t create man to live on his own. We were created to be in fellowship with him. However, sin has broken that fellowship and caused man to live separate from God. When we are in Christ, we are a new creation, our old life has passed away and our new life has come.

Christ living in us can seem quite mysterious. When we have found our new life in Christ, and He dwells in our heart, we begin to live different than those who don’t know Christ. The way we think, the way we believe, and the way we act, begins to look more and more like Him. So, when Paul says it is no longer I who live, I believe he is saying that the life he lives conforms to the life of Christ because of who he has now become, a new creation

Digging Deeper:

Read Colossians chapter 3 and Ephesians chapter 4.

Apply It:

Being crucified is hard! When Paul says to live a crucified life we must consider what may need to be put to death in our own life. Bad habits, materialism, sin of various kinds. But more than that, we are to live by faith in Jesus. That means we consider the will of Christ when making decisions in our life. The best place to start doing that is to spend time daily in the Word of God seeking Him for our daily bread.

Prayer:

Lord, help me today to live the crucified life. I desire to live for you and put away those things that keep me from looking more like you each day. Thank you for giving yourself for me.