A new year means new opportunities, new resolutions, and new challenges. For some of us, a new year is just the continuation of the old year. This post is part of a series of short devotionals I [wrote] for Impactus | Promise Keepers Canada. Each reflection will focus on a particular Bible verse that has the word “new” in it. I hope it will encourage you and give you some helpful perspective as we launch in to a new year.
Ephesians 4:24: Put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.
There is a difference between receiving a gift and putting it on. You may have received some new clothes as gifts at Christmas, but it does not mean you have put those clothes on yet.
In my last post, we looked at the truth of being a new creation in Christ. Yet, many people are not fully experiencing how amazing this gift is because they are not putting it on. Our old self is corrupted by deceitful desires (v.22). Our new self is created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and truth (v. 24).
Maybe you feel stuck in sin you can’t overcome – start by putting on the new self. Maybe you have many fears as we start 2019 – start the year by putting on the new self. How do we do this?
Ephesians 4:23 teaches us how to put on the new self; “be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” Your mind believes a story of who you are. It may be something your parents, employer, or someone else has said about you. Those stories shape us. God invites you to believe the story He says about you.
Sin has no power over you because you are a new creation in Christ. You do not need to be a slave to fear because you are a child of God.
I have found one of the biggest challenges in my life is the battle for my mind. As Christians, we need to consistently come back to the story of who we truly are because it is there we will find freedom and strength.
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