7/6 Romans 13:14

¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

I am repeating this one verse from Through the Bible Daily Devotional because I find it so helpful. Jesus is our robe of righteousness. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. That is the ideal church. However, Paul reminded the Roman church that it was something that they must do. Every believer must put on Christ. It is very similar to putting on the armor of Ephesians chapter six (Ephesians 6:10-17). Every part of that armor has its source in the Word, and Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14).

When we are clothed in Christ, we act as He would act. We love like He would love. We live, move, and have our being in Him (Acts 17:28). We move at His will and align our will with His. That is when the world will see Jesus in our work, leisure, and worship.

Being clothed in Christ, we don't look for opportunities to gratify our sinful nature. Our mind is set on what is spiritual and our desire is to please the Lord in goodness and holiness. The cravings of the sinful nature don't vanish. We must choose to set our mind and heart on things of eternal value (Colossians 3:1-2). When we find our thoughts have been distracted by our old nature, we take control of those thoughts and submit them to Christ. We see carnal desires for what they are and the destructiveness to which they lead. In Christ we find greater joy and desires that are edifying.

Prayer: Lord, help me to remain clothed in You. Help me to continually set my mind and heart on that which is godly and align my desires with Yours.