8/4/26

Day 4

No Longer I, But Christ

Scripture: Galatians 2:20

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Here is union stated in a single breath—a death, a life, and a Person living where you used to be.

Notice the order. Before Christ can fully live in us, the old self must be crucified. This is why June's journey into death to self was not separate from union but the very road to it. There is no oneness with Christ that bypasses the cross. The self that insists on running its own life must come down before the life of Christ can rise up. Union is resurrection—and resurrection only follows a grave.

But do not miss the wonder of what Paul says next: "it is no longer I who live." He does not say, "I am trying to be more like Jesus." He does not say, "I am doing my best to imitate Him." He says the center of gravity has shifted. The one running the life is no longer Paul striving for God, but Christ living through Paul. Imitation strains from the outside; union flows from within.

This changes everything about how we grow. So much of our spiritual effort is really self-improvement dressed in religious clothing—the old self trying to become a better old self. But God is not in the business of improving the old self. He crucified it. What He offers instead is exchange: your life for His, your weakness for His strength, your striving for His indwelling life. "I have been crucified"—and now Another lives here.

"So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God." Union is not passivity; it is faith. We do not sit idle waiting for Christ to move our arms and legs. We act—but we act in dependence, trusting that the life of Christ within is sufficient for what the moment requires. Every task, every trial, every temptation becomes an occasion to say, "Not my life here, but Yours, Lord. Live through me."

And anchoring it all is the phrase Paul cannot leave out: "who loved me and gave himself for me." Union is never cold theology. It rests entirely on love—on a Savior who did not merely die for humanity in the abstract but gave Himself for you, by name. The life now living in you is the life of the One who chose the cross with your face in His mind.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I confess how much of my spiritual life has been the old self trying to improve itself. But You did not come to improve me—You came to crucify the old and to live Your life in its place. Teach me to reckon myself dead and to trust You to live through me. Not my life, but Yours, Lord. You loved me and gave Yourself for me. Amen.

Today, catch yourself in a moment of striving—trying to be patient, trying to be kind, trying to hold it together. Pause and pray, "Not my effort here, Lord, but Your life in me." Then act, trusting that Christ within is your sufficiency. Notice the difference between straining to imitate Him and resting in His life through you.

Scripture for Reflection:
Colossians 3:3 — "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God."
Philippians 1:21 — "For to me, living means living for Christ."
2 Corinthians 5:17 — "Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person."

God never set out to improve the old you. He crucified it—and gave you Christ instead.