we are currently being corrupted. but the sweet thing is that God has placed the law within us - the Holy Spirit. And that dude is going to transfer his heart into our minds which will begin the 'putting off' process. We must put off the old man and put on the new. the old is currently corrupting us. We must go on a journey with the Spirit into to hearts to discern what is His work and what is ours. We are decieved about what is really going on within our hearts. We need a person to reveal that to us. The first step is to recognize what the mess is....the next is cleaning it up. The degree to which we are unaware of the reality of our heart is the degree to which our heart is hidden from us. We have all these sin constructions which have been developing since birth. No amount of putting on will take care of these sin structures within our heart. We must do some deep soul work to rid those weeds that have entangled our heart. But less we pull out the good things...sometimes the weeds are allowed to remain. We must learn to sit with the gardner amongst our weeds.

sigh. it is crazy stuff, eh? I was at a family friends home over the thanksgiving holiday and he asked me what program i was doing. i mentioned, 'spiritual formation' and he went slightly crazy. he said he had read about 'thats sorta stuff' in christianity today. he obviously thought he was the expert now. it made me feel dumb. like i was wasting my life while his kids are all married w/ multiple phd's. often i awake and think these things...and wonder what the heck i am doing with my life. is this a waste? can i even do this? what is even the point of being in this program? i think of certain individuals in my life and what they must think of me. why...do i continually desire other peoples approval? people that probably don't give a crap about me or what i am doing....however, i am still trying to appease them. it's silly really. but, alas. i that's the reality of my heart. and...now i must sit and ask why this is so. why do i care more about what others think of me then what my creator? perhaps...b/c i do not trust the creator has my best in mind for me. yup...that's pretty much it.