I once read a book called Knowing Jesus is Everything.
By that time, my intimate understanding of God’s love had not developed, and I did not appreciate it as I could now.
Today, I have discovered the wonder of knowing Jesus.
That’s why I’d like to share with you five things that happen when we find Jesus.
For this, I invite you to read a few short verses from the Bible.
(…) assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:20 – 24
In verses immediately preceding these, the apostle Paul had been reminding the church of Ephesus of the sad way we live when we are far from God.
In today’s verses, the apostle now focuses on the change that had occurred in their lives when they met Jesus.
And in fact, knowing Jesus completely transforms our way of living.
Not only is human history divided in two, before Christ and after Christ, but in our own lives, that distinction also comes to occur.
What we were before Jesus and what we are after Him.
Let me mention what the apostle reminds us about what happens when we find Jesus.
We leave behind many bad and harmful things
Finding Jesus motivates us to let go of what we have been carrying and is not good.
It’s putting off our old self.
It is to leave behind, to give up that which kills the soul.
That which hurts the mind and heart, that which destroys the body.
That which is opposed to God.
Those things can be addictions, character tendencies, they can be psychological wounds, they can be ideas, they can be patterns of behavior.
Finding Jesus motivates us to leave behind that which destroys and does not add value.
Our desires change
Before we find Jesus, our condition can become so unfavorable that our nature is corrupted by deceitful desires.
We desire things that don’t build us up, that hurt us, or that hurt others.
We desire things that go against God’s will.
When we find Jesus, and experience God’s infinite love, we desire that which will help us continue to live near Him, and we seek to set aside that which affects our harmony with heaven.
Our way of thinking changes
By knowing Jesus, we are renewed in the spirit of our minds.
Before Jesus, our mind is captivated by sin and is interested in things that do not benefit us eternally.
Finding Jesus is a renewal in our way of thinking.
We stop cultivating empty things like immoral thoughts or resentments, and we start thinking in a different way, a more transcendent one.
We think of that which is good, that which is pleasant, of that which has real meaning.
A profound inner change occurs
Finding Jesus brings about an inner change so important that the Bible calls it a change of nature.
When we know him, we put on the new self, created after the likeness of God.
We begin to be like Him.
We begin to be like God.
We start to develop our full potential.
When we intimately understand and experience God’s infinite love for us, the door opens to become a completely different person.
We heal the wounds of our past, reconcile ourselves to our present, and look with hope and confidence at a better future with God.
We become people of integrity
The last thing on my list of what happens when we find Jesus is that we begin to live according to a sense of true righteousness and holiness.
In our hearts grows respect for God, for our fellow human beings, and for ourselves, to such an extent that our sense of integrity and our moral sensitivity are restored.
Now we can clearly see the evil and avoid it, and we can freely enjoy the good and practice it.
Conclusion
Dear reader, God loves you and desires to open before you an unlimited range of wonderful and eternal possibilities.
The only way to truly understand his love and experience is only through Jesus.
Today I would like to invite you, if you have not done so, to give yourself the opportunity to open up space for Jesus in your life.
He wants to help you be and be better than you could ever be without Him.
I hope these words are a blessing to your life.
And what do you think? What do you think happens when we find Jesus? Share in the comments.
A hug, God bless you.
