Perspective:
Gen. 1:26-28 ; Matt. 6:33 ; Rom. 8:29 :We are made in the image and likeness of God Himself, that we are containers and revealors of God's love to others, to the beast of the field, and to nature itself. Man was created to fulfill God's purposes on earth by means of God's Spirit, by His word, being expressed through man's earthly body to be a blessing and to destroy that which opposes . It is man's responsibility in Christ to subdue Satan.

However, as the result of the Fall, mankind slipped from God -consciousness into the hell of self and self-consciousness. This fallen self dwells in misconceived feelings and attitudes, those that arise from listening to the self-in-separation and to the voices of a fallen world. That self is to be 'put-off -we are not to practice the presence of that self ( Eph. 4:22-24 ).

Hope:
Col. 2:10-12 ; Col. 3:10 ; Eph. 4:22-24 ; Phil. 4:19 :Christ completed us, and we are completed in Him. Daily we put-off the old man and put-on the new man, and through these experiences we realize what and who we are in Christ, we are identified with Christ, and live from that expectation and realization, once again.

Rom. 6:3-6 : We must differentiate between the self that collaborates with the principle of evil and selfishness, the false self of flesh and its appetites, and the true self that abides in Christ and lives and collaborates from the justified new creation and lives eternally.

2 Cor. 3:18 ; 2 Cor. 4:10-12 :We are not called to self-realization or self-actualization but to identification with Christ. Our true self, at any stage of our becoming is in Christ. Jesus took upon Himself all our darkness, rejection and depression and gives us in exchange His light and life. We are to do the same in our relationship with others.

Change:
Gal. 5:1 ; 1 Pet. 2:23-24 ; 1 Pet. 3:14-17 ; John 14:27 : Our peace and joy is not dependent upon others, things, or possessions. We are not what others have done to us or failed to do. We are children of God, the true self, freed of self loathing and hatred. We are now in Christ the true center, the place of quiet strength, the center from which we know and see ourselves to be white-robed in the very righteousness of Christ Himself.

1 John 1:9 ; Eze. 36:16-36 ; Ps. 51 :We are all sinners from birth. We have no choice but to forgive others and to receive forgiveness for our sinful actions in the midst of being sinned against, and offending others by my sinful attitude. To forgive is not to forgive evil, we do not forgive Satan, we do not forgive demons and evil principalities, but we do forgive 'persons' in the clutches of that evil. Being freed now , no longer controlled or influenced by the horizontal and externals of life , my true self comes into being, enabled now to fulfill God's purposes for my life on this earth.

Memory/Meditation/Prayer :

2 Cor. 5:17 , 21 .

Devotions :

BSAF on selected verses from above.

Put-off and put-on:

Failure to accept self, failure to forgive others and/or to receive forgiveness for ourselves deals with our specific memories and rejections which leads to negative patterns of relating to God and to others: all of this results in a failure to come into a mature self -acceptance. Not accepting the true self induces the following problem patterns. Make notes of those that you can identify with, your failure list, and prepare a VOSWS for each pattern:

1. A judgmental spirit that is harsh and demanding on self and others.
2. A strong perfectionist attitude demanding the impossible from self and others.
3. A strong pattern of fearing future events.
4. A sense of aloneness and abandonment in times of decision.
5. A preoccupation with one's own guilt and compulsion to compete for position and success.

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