Getting Acquainted With the New You
New You
Being born again is a life-transforming experience. Nothing is the same. Everything looks different. What used to please you now leaves you empty. You have new interests. You love God…maybe the newest feeling of all.
You don’t know yourself. The old is gone. Life is now a discovery of who you are in Christ, who God is creating, a new you. New every day.
You have a new life living in you. Did you know that you are now the temple of God, that He lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 Did you know that you are not your own, but that you have been purchased? See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Pleasing Jesus Christ is your primary goal. After realizing all that He has done for you and from the darkness He has brought you out of, your life is filled with joy. You simply want to please Him.
But, what about my past?
We are to forget our past and press forward in following Jesus Christ. He said to deny yourself, walk away from who you were and follow Him. Paul tells us in Romans 6:3-4 that we have been baptized into Christ-into His death, burial, and resurrection so that we would be free to live a new life. Our old self has been crucified with Christ. I know this is a bit much to grasp, but by faith, it becomes a reality.
Slipping back into old behaviors
How old are you? That is how long you have developed habits of dealing with life. We have programmed ourselves to respond to life in the ways we thought best in our particular situation. So it will be easy to slip back into old thought patterns and behaviors.
Let’s see clearly who we were, who we were before Christ. That will enable us to make a clear choice for turning from our default setting, who we used to be, to following Christ. This is a daily process, even hourly or minute by minute process. Choosing to yield to God and walking by faith will keep us growing in His grace. We will be participating in our transformation.
God wants to empower us, to live through us. Is this possible? Galatians 2:20 tells us it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. It is His abilities, resources, strength, etc. that will live through me if I step out of the way.
Living as a new you
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, walk as children of light…finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. Ephesians 5:8,10.NKJV
We are now children of God’s family and citizens of a different world, heaven. This earth is no longer our home. We feel like we belong elsewhere. We will begin to feel at odds with our society. That is to be expected because you are a new person, not just a fixed up old person.
This isn’t simply a lifestyle choice. It is not choosing to live a good life. It is not choosing to copy Jesus Christ. It is His very life living in us. Our spirit reconnected to God’s Spirit with us receiving His life all the time. Transforming us into new people. Different from the average person. Romans 12:2.
Words to light your path
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Prayer
Father in heaven, we open ourselves to You to receive Your life in us. Help us to yield to Your transforming work in our lives. We are so thankful for making us Your children. Amen
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