How would you feel if you had worked your head off for thirty years to reach a goal in life and then, when you finally reached it, found it to be nothing but a big disappointment? That is what happened to a retired businessman from Boston who thought he had latched onto the perfect retirement plan. By the time he retired he had his house mortgage paid off; his two automobiles and boat were also paid for; he had several good investments in stocks and bonds, along with plenty of cash in the bank, and a sizable monthly income from a good pension plan; and over the years he had also earned a good reputation that placed him in the position of being a well-respected member of the community. Some people would say, "He has it all; life doesn't get any better than that!"

By all visible accounts it appeared that he had reached the goal in life for which he had worked so long and hard to achieve, and that now he would enjoy the fruit of his labor. But, alas, it did not happen, for he discovered that there was a "fly in the ointment." Something came to the surface that was spoiling the good life he had envisioned. This thing had troubled him somewhat in the past, but then he had been too busy to give it much attention. Now that he had a lot of spare time on his hands, he could no longer ignore it. It was getting him down so much that he could hardly function.

One day when his daughter was visiting him, she asked how he was enjoying life since his retirement. His reply was, "The only thing I enjoy is sleeping, for that is the only time I can get away from myself!" Now it was exposed--the fly in the ointment. The thing that was spoiling his life had come to the surface. It was himself!

By the tone of his voice his daughter knew he was not joking. Her father was serious; he was going through a crises. An import business that he had owned and operated had consumed the major portion of his life, but now he no longer had an active schedule. People were not demanding his time and energy. By retiring he had pulled his life off of the fast lane, but certainly not into an area of rest and recreation. Even his golf game had gone sour; his former associates were not that eager to play the game with him if it could not be interwoven with business. He had no desire to travel, for he'd had his fill of that during his years of working in the import business. He refused to become a slave to the television, and he just could not picture himself sitting in a boat, holding a pole, waiting for a fish to bite.

He now had a lot of time on his hands and found himself spending much of it alone. This gave him an opportunity to get to know himself better, but that turned out to be a rather unpleasant experience, for he soon discovered that the one with whom he was becoming acquainted was not someone he wanted to hang around with!

During the long hours that he was awake, he would think about the past; and he remembered times in his childhood when he had misbehaved and his mother would say, "One more strike and you're going to get a timeout!" (Her "timeouts" meant that he had to sit on the stairs and be quiet for a certain period of time.) Now he was beginning to think that it was God who had arranged this current "time out" in his life, where he had to sit alone with himself and be quiet. However, that was not what he'd had in mind for his perfect retirement plan.

This man is no exception; he is not the only one who has such a problem. Many people of all ages find it difficult to live with themselves. They may not come right out and say, "I can't stand myself," but they will see one of their own character weaknesses in someone else and say, "I can't stand that person!"

In today's society, one reason so many people are operating their lives in the fast lane is because they are trying to run away from themselves. From the time they take that first early morning cup of coffee to get them going, they go full speed until late at night when they are exhausted and collapse into sleep. Then they wake up to another day to begin the same process all over again. Take away the work, the television, the V.C.R. and the telephone for a day or so and you will have one unhappy individual. What can't be taken away is that old self--it always stays right with them.

When we see that we cannot outrun the old self, the next step is to try to make it more tolerable, or at least to improve it enough so that it will be fit to live with. This self-improvement process may include a new diet, an exercise program, a different hairdo, a new wardrobe or perhaps some type of behavioral modification techniques found in those self-help books that are flooding the market. Some people go as far as to change their names. The most common way to try to improve the old self is to give it a new image, but that is only a transparent covering. Some will get desperate and even go as far as to try to put some manmade religion into the old self, only to discover that even that will not do the job. All our do-it-yourself remedies are useless; they are no more effective in the changing or covering up of our old selves than the fig leaf aprons that were sewed together and worn by Adam and Eve (Gen.3:7). Sometimes we have to come to the end of ourselves before we realize that we cannot make a change, that it has to be the work of God.

Our inner-self problem began with the fall of Adam when sin entered into the heart of man. The Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer.17:9). Is it any wonder that we have trouble living with ourselves? All the remedies the world has to offer will not change our old self. There is only one answer and that is to get a new life. Jesus said, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:7).

Christ came into this world and went to the cross to be crucified to give us a new life. He did not change our old sinful nature; He put it to death on the cross! (Gal.2:20). Our old heart of sin was not changed into something good; it was destroyed! It no longer exists! It is dead! Why in the world do we who have been born again try to improve something that is dead?!

We who have received Jesus have a brand new life. The Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2Cor.5:17). And that New You is really something to behold!

The New You is not anything you have made; it is a magnificent work of God. It is the most glorious of all His creations. He made you for Himself; you were fashioned with His own Hands. Your new life cannot be improved because it has been made permanently perfect by Almighty God. The Bible says, "For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Heb.10:14). If you really think about it, you will see how utterly foolish it is for us to attempt to improve the finest of God's creations. You can read the Bible through a hundred and one times; you can camp out in some convent for the rest of your earthly life, and still not be able to improve your new life. Isn't the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross enough?! Must we try to add to His work ?! Can't you see how unbelieving it is for us to try to perform to improve our new life rather than resting in the finished work of God? It is vital that we separate the old self from the new creation and then learn to live in the new.

Suppose there was a king who loved you dearly and wanted to be generous to you; so he built a mansion in the best location on earth and gave it to you as a gift. But, for some foolish reason, you decided not to enjoy it; instead, you chose to make a garbage dump on the edge of town your dwelling place. Does that sound weird? Well that is what it is like when a child of God chooses to live in the old man rather than in their new creation!

Many precious saints simply do not understand how absurd it is not to love their new life given to them by God. They put themselves down, telling what a worm they are, and think that kind of talk sounds spiritual. They will say, "I can pray for others but I can't pray for myself," or, "I can tell others that God loves them, but I sometimes find it hard to believe that God loves me."

You may be a child of God and still have some days when you feel as if you are living in a dump, but those are "walk by faith" rather than "walk by feelings" days. The Bible says, ". . . as it is written: The just shall live by faith" (Rom.1:17). If you see something on the inside that you find hard to live with, don't get discouraged; you are not the only one who has been perfected and still sees something within that is shocking. Paul the apostle wrote, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom.7:24). He said that when he was looking at the old man, which in God's reality no longer existed, because it had been crucified with Christ on the Cross of Calvary. In the very next verse Paul answered his own question about "who shall deliver" him when he wrote, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord . . . " (Rom.7:25).

There is a way to deny the old self that is better than being preoccupied in a battle with it. If we use our old nature to fight our old nature, we will become absorbed with it. The better way is so much easier: it is simply to choose to live in the new creation. That is like lighting a light rather than fighting darkness with darkness.

Many of God's people, when they have their eyes focused on the old man rather than on their new creation, will seek human counsel and spend a lot of their time and money on trying to psychoanalyze the old adamic nature. Then they will try different behavior modification maneuvers to change or control it. But someone trying to change or improve something that Christ has put to death on the cross is really a waste of time and energy--unless it leads them to the realization that they need to live in their new creation.

Human counsel can be very beneficial if it advises people to go to the One whose Name is called, "The Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isa.9:6). The "Wonderful, Counselor" counsels the New You. He does not speak to your old dead man; He does not counsel your self image!

What a relief it is, after having a view of that old man, feeling it pressing in on our flesh, to know by faith that we have been delivered from it! In the book of Ephesians Paul instructs us to ". . . put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (4:24). If you are a child of God who is looking within and finding it difficult loving what you see, you are simply not viewing that new, magnificent creation of God! Perhaps you need to be reintroduced to the New You.

Sometimes, when I get introduced to someone, by the time I shake their hand I will have already forgotten their name. Of course, that would not happen if I thought the one I was meeting was of great importance. You are of more value to God than you will ever be able to fully comprehend. To get an actual estimate of your worth, take a look at the Cross of Calvary to see what God was willing to spend to give you your new life and make you His very own!

If you cannot clearly see who you are, just ask God to show you through a renewal "in the spirit of your mind" (Eph.4:23), so that you may see yourself as He sees you. For if you have that view, you will definitely like what you see.

To become better acquainted with yourself, you really do need to look well beyond your physical appearance. Your body is a remarkable creation of God that is "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps.139:14), and should be maintained well. However, your body is not the real you; it is a vehicle to get you around while you are here on earth. The Bible also calls your body an "earthly house" or "tabernacle" (2Cor.5:1). The real you is a spirit that lives within your body. For all who belong to Jesus, a new body is waiting in Heaven for when this old one has served its purpose; but while we are on this temporary journey here on earth, we will have to make do with the one we have. That is not an easy task because sometimes our Heavenly spirit feels limited in these earthly bodies. Job said, "Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews" (Job 10:11), and ". . . all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come" (verse 14).

Once, when Jesus was speaking to His disciples-- just after telling them how a time was coming when they would be persecuted, hated of all men for His name's sake, betrayed and some even put to death-- He went on to say to them, "But there shall not an hair of your head perish" (Luke 21:18). Many of them were martyred and their bodies met violent deaths; so Jesus was apparently not speaking about their temporal physical bodies, but about the real life that lived within them. The New You is indestructible: it will never die or grow old; it will not weaken; and it cannot be harmed. The Bible says, "But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day" (2Cor.4:16).

The New You is a remarkable creation, to say the least. Not only is it indestructible, it is exempt from sin! The Bible says, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1John 3:9). Does this mean that we never sin? Not really, for we do sin. In another place in Scripture it states that "whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Rom.14:23); and, speaking to Christians, it tells us to ". . . sin not" (Eph.4:26). Well then, if in one place the Bible states that we cannot sin if we are born of God, and in another place it tells born again Christians not to sin, does that mean there is a contradiction in the Word of God? Of course not! It simply means that our new creation cannot sin! Therefore, when we do sin, we do it by still living in the old man even though he is dead. Another way to state it is to say we sin only when we are walking in the flesh rather than in the Spirit.

It is common to assume that "walking in the flesh" is lying, cheating, stealing, committing adultery, etc., but they are the works (results or fruit) of the flesh (Gal.5:19-21). Walking in the flesh is trying to make ourselves righteous in God's sight (trying to live the Christian life in our own strength.) If we, who belong to Christ, try to perform to earn or maintain our righteousness, or if we get bent out of shape trying to stash money away to sustain us through life (when our Heavenly Father has promised in writing to take good care of us [Mat.6:25-34]), we are definitely walking in the flesh.

Some Christians who are still living under the law rather than under grace will say that the preaching of grace is giving people a license to sin, and that we need to be governed by the law. One preacher told me that he preaches grace, but always puts enough law with it to keep people from sinning. In a way, these Old Covenant Christians do have a point; that is, of course, if they are referring to the old unregenerate man or the Christian who has chosen to walk in the flesh. But the preaching of the law is not for the New You, because that glorious new creation of God is sin-exempt!

Now, if a born again Christian chooses to walk in the flesh--to live in that old dead man that was crucified with Christ--then, of course, he will need to be controlled by the law! The old man cannot function in the New Covenant and the new man cannot function in the Old Covenant.

I would like to remind Christians who cannot understand why they are not hearing from the Lord, or why they are not receiving His joy, His peace, His wisdom and all the other wonderful blessings He wants to bestow upon them, that they must approach God in their new creation to receive these gifts. If they drag up that old dead man that was crucified on the cross with Christ and present that thing to God, expecting Him to bless it, they will stay empty-handed, even though God is longing to bless them! And He does not care to bless their self images. Those are harmful things that He wants ground to dust so that they will not be rebuilt.

To show you the position you must be in to receive enormous blessings from our Lord, may I ask you a few very important questions? Have you thought about your retirement? Do you know that God has a retirement plan for you? And do you know that you can retire at any age?

God's retirement plan is a New Life Plan--for the New You. It does not apply to the old you or to your self image. In order to receive the benefits, you must be willing to stop working to earn things from the Lord. In His retirement plan you do not need to store up worldly riches, for He will provide all your needs and a lot more. You may retire from all those rules and regulations and from all that old ceremonial pomp. You dear old saints, who speak of how you have worn out the carpeting under your knees, praying all those nights fighting the devil, can retire from that and get a good New Covenant night's sleep, while you rest in the victory of Christ! You who are in the bondage of legalism can retire from living under the law, for the New You is not going to break any of God's laws. You may retire from fear, doubt and unbelief and really enjoy your new life, which is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col.1:27)! Believe me, the Almighty Creator of the universe has come up with a better retirement plan than you and I or the man from Boston can!

God has tucked away so many wonderful little surprises for us in His retirement plan: all those unexpected blessings that pop up at just the right time; those provisions that come in from unexpected sources. I, personally, have experienced so much joy and have had so many good times with my Heavenly Father since I have retired from my works by living in my new creation and signing my life over to His retirement plan. Oh, how I love my new life since I got off my retirement plan and onto His. I recommend that all people get in on God's retirement plan for their life!

Of course, for anyone who does not know the Lord to be able to have it, they must be made new by receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior, because it is exclusively for the New Creation. Then they can apply, in their new Life, to receive all the benefits of their inheritance that Christ obtained for them on the cross.

Now, if any child of God, after becoming a new creation, still wants to stick with their own, worldly, do-it-yourself retirement plan rather than the magnificent, glorious one fashioned by the Hand of God . . . all I can say is that they have made, by far, a worse choice than Esau did when he sold his birthright for a bowl of bean soup (red pottage)! (Gen.25:29-34).

Now is the time for every child of God to get completely out of the Old Covenant and come all the way into the New. It is a time for Christians of all ages to retire from their own works and to enter the rest that remains for the people of God (Heb.4:9), which is His retirement plan set aside for His Beloved.