Let's admit it. The era of the selfie has not revealed anything new about human nature. Within each of us is an inherited selfishness from birth (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). To declare that "He must increase but I must decrease" (John 3:30) is admittedly hard to replicate. In Galatians 2:20, the Apostle Paul's offers his perspective:

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

From this I learn:

1. My old self has been crucified. The gospel makes its statement in my life by declaring who's in charge. The old is gone, and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

2. Yet my current state is the flesh. The flesh is still a part of me. There is a choice, nevertheless, to live by faith. We put to death the deeds of the flesh through the help of the Spirit (Romans 8:13)

3. I'm loved - and if that's not enough, Christ demonstrated His love by giving His life for me. And the Father so wonderfully reminds us that we are His - "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." (1 John 3:1a) Knowing we are loved compels us to live not for ourselves but for Him who for our sake died and was raised (2 Corinthians 5:14).