The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.”

—2 Corinthians 4:16

Our bodies on this earth are drawing nearer death every minute we’re alive; the “decaying”—or “wasting away” as some versions say—only becomes noticeable as we age or get ill, but it’s happening all the time.

But the minute we become a Christian, our inner person begins to be renewed spiritually.

We must choose to accept that the outer, bodily man is wasting away and change our focus from flesh to spirit. Otherwise, the fear of that change and the fear of death may take away the peace that Christ gave to believers when he conquered death; it will take our focus away from the things above and put them back on things below (Colossians 3:2).

As believers, our goals should constantly become less about this temporary outer tent of a body and more about the eternal inner self.

The worldly man is always growing further away from the possibility of attaining new earthly goals, becoming more infirm with the passing years. His time grows shorter every minute he’s alive.

But the faithful Christian is growing nearer his highest goal of perfect union with Christ every minute until the very moment of his death.

We are never without purpose despite the growing limitations that come with age.

If our outer person is wasting away in failing health or unmet desires and goals, we can take heart, knowing that the inner person is being renewed day by day. We are forever growing closer and closer to our ultimate aim of Christ and his kingdom.

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