What does it mean to regard someone “according to the flesh”? It is to form an impression about people from the most obvious things about them. Here are five things that can easily shape our first impression of others:

1. Appearance: You might say, “Mrs. Jones is the tall lady with the dark curly hair and the green coat!” That’s a description of her appearance. You are a certain height and weight. All of us have thoughts about our own appearance and how it compares with others.

2. Ability: We are gifted in different ways and to different degrees—in sports, the arts, music, etc. You may remember two captains picking teams—the ones who get picked first walk with a swagger, while the last kids picked shuffle over to their team.

3. Age: Paul said to Timothy, “Let no one despise... your youth” (1 Tim. 4:12). Some people, seeing that Timothy was young, would not take him seriously. They would need to be won over by his godly example. Similarly, many older people feel pushed to the margins in a culture that chases after the young. Age is something that can distinguish us from others.

4. Friends: At school this can be a big factor in your life. Who are your friends? Which group are you in? It remains true throughout life. As adults, we talk about our “social circles.”

5. Race: The Bible has many references to Jews and Gentiles, the distinctions between them, and how these divisions might be overcome. You cannot understand the tensions in our country today apart from this issue, and the many injustices that have led to it.

Which of these are most sensitive for you?

Jesus “died for all,” so there is hope for you. Because everything God has done in Jesus Christ on the cross to change your life and death can be yours today — no exclusions. No one is beyond the bounds of the grace that God has poured out in Jesus.

If Jesus “died for all,” then there’s love in the heart of Jesus for all. He can fill you and change you with this love. Notice Paul says, “He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (5:15).

You cannot serve a dead saviour. Only a living saviour is able to deliver you from the misery of living for yourself and bring you into the joy of living for him. Jesus is the living Saviour who can change the face of death and the course of life for you!

Come to Him. Tell Him that you see your need of Him and that your only hope is in Him. Tell Him you are tired of living for yourself. Place your life into His hands and give yourself to Him. Ask Him to make you His own, and forgive your many sins, and lead you into a new life.

Jesus died in your place to change the face of death for you forever and to deliver you from the misery of living for yourself. Through His love, He is able to release you from the tyranny of self and lead you into a new life for Him. He is able and He is ready. So don’t lose heart.

Where do you see new hope today?

Have you discovered that being moral and religious will never free you from the misery of living for yourself? Moral and religious people can be as selfish as they come, because being moral and being religious do not have the power to break the default life of living for self.

That was true of the rich young ruler. He was living for himself. He wanted everything he could get in this world, and then he wanted heaven too. So when Jesus said, “Sell everything you have and then come follow me,” he couldn’t do it. That’s why he went away sad.

A Christian is a person who no longer lives for himself or herself, but for Christ who died for their sake and was raised. You have lived long enough for yourself. Why would you carry on any longer in the misery of trying to be your own Lord and Saviour?

What would keep you from praying these words? “Jesus, I’m done living for myself. In the light of who You are and what You have accomplished on my behalf, I can no longer live for myself. I must give myself to You and live for You, so that Your love will control me.”