True Self vs False Self

Many still interpret St Paul wrongly as they understand “flesh” as being this human body with which we sin sexually, to put it directly. But for Paul this word Sarx is not the body that needs food and pleasure but the Ego that needs gratification.

We are still talking about the same thing when we hear Paul describing the Old Self and the New Self. This is not just the person before and after baptism. Another way of putting it, using Paul’s words again, is the flesh and the spirit. Again, this is not as if we’re saying, bad and good.

Flesh is another way of saying false self or the ego. Spirit is another way of saying true self or freedom from the ego in God. But these are both part of the same human person that is created in God’s image and that God loves so much. So you are always between these two points: true self and false self. Your false self never truly disappear. But you need to know that there is a true self which is there like a magnet pulling you towards it while you’re still being pulled towards the old self.

Actually you need to be drawn towards the true self, to embrace it, while forgiving the very weakness of your false self. When you do that, you become wise.