2 Corinthians 13:4 (NLT)
Although he was crucified in weakness, he now lives by the power of God. We, too, are weak, just as Christ was, but when we deal with you we will be alive with him and will have God’s power.

Galatians 2:20 (NLT)
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I do wish I were like Paul and that my old self was past tense. I am not so fortunate and my old self is dying a long, slow crucifixion.

Galatians 5:21 (NLT)
21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

These things I have lived, and far to often I still hold on to the behaviors of those days. They are past, their grip on my still lingers. It makes no sense given what awaits when I let them go, yet still they linger.

Galatians 5:2-23 (NLT)
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Those are the results of submitting to the crucifixion of self. Those are the results that the world can never provide, only Christ.

Romans 6:6 (NLT)
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

Yet, I fight to hold on to the ways of the world. Crazy. Dumb. Me.

Proverbs 17:17 (NLT)
A friend loves at all ties, and a brother is born for adversity.

Christ is the brother born for adversity. He is the friend who loves at all times. He is the one who opened the door for me, for you, for us.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. C. S. Lewis

Galatians 6:14 (NLT)
As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.

Romans 15:13 (NLT)
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The slow death of self. I look forward to the day when I finally allow the crucifixion to be complete.