Day 13: Continuous Conversion | 1.16.26

These words of our Lord refer to our initial conversion, but we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted every day of our lives. If we trust in our own abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. When God, through His authority, brings us into new situations, we should immediately ensure that our natural life submits to the spiritual, obeying the orders of the Holy Spirit. Just because we have responded appropriately in the past does not guarantee that we will do so again. The response of the natural to the spiritual should be one continuous conversion; yet, this is where we often refuse to be obedient. No matter what our situation is, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered. But we must “put on the new man” (Ephesians 4:24). God holds us accountable every time we refuse to repent and change the way we think about the Truth He is speaking into our spirit. Jesus sees our refusal as willful disobedience. Our natural life must not rule; the Spirit of Christ must rule in us.

Refusing a lifestyle of repentance and refusing to be continually converted creates a stumbling block to the growth of our spiritual life. There are areas of self-will in our lives where our pride speaks scornfully and disrespects the throne of God, saying, “I won’t submit.” We idolize and deify our independence and self-will, calling them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be achieved through continuous conversion; our surrender to Him through a life of repentance. Slowly but surely, we can claim all of our lives for the Spirit of God.