The greatest hindrance to the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer is self. Good self or bad self is still self. Self-esteem, self-worth, self-image, self-love are at best the occupation with the wrong man—the very man whom God has set aside and condemned in the death of Christ. God is not attempting to improve man in the flesh; instead He has introduced another Man, the Man, Christ Jesus. This is a hard lesson to learn, and we need to be reminded of the words in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Why do I have to learn this lesson and admit that “in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells”? The difficulties and problems that cause so much trouble in our own lives, in our homes and families, and in the assembly find their source in our flesh. If we do not learn from God’s Word that the flesh profits nothing, then God will teach us by our own failures. It is indeed sad if we have to learn it this way instead of yielding to what we are taught in the pages of God’s Word.

Yet, what is even sadder is that, by yielding to the flesh, we have grieved the Holy Spirit within us, and our every failure or sin necessitated those unfathomable sufferings of Christ on the cross. As I learn how worthless the flesh within me is, I turn away from self and turn the eye of faith toward Christ. There I find an object of supreme delight—the One in whom God finds eternal joy and satisfaction. Here are words to remember: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:2–3).