A New Creation

   What a beautiful morning. The first thoughts that went through my head when my alarm went off were: how much I have to do today and how I just wanted to keep sleeping. But I looked out the window, saw the sun rays peeking through the blind, feeling like they were inviting me to embrace this day and all that it contains, starting now. So, here I am. 

   Lately, God has been reminding me often that I am a new creation in Him. I too easily let the world define me. Instead of finding my identity in Jesus Christ, I find myself looking to the people around me and the world around me. Sadly, I have found myself believing the lies that the world tells me about how I need to be in order to be accepted. I have put so much time and effort trying to win the approval of many instead of focusing on the One who has already given me His approval. 

   The world has a way of tempting us, leading us down the wrong path. It seems fun and harmless at the time, but leads to broken promises and damaged hearts. God so desperately desires that we turn from these ways and come back to Him. He knows that we are not perfect and will wander from Him, but He will always welcome us back with open arms. He desires to redeem and restore us; make us new. 

   Through Christ, we are a new creation. Our pasts are forgiven and erased. We no longer need to live a life full of shame, guilt, or regret. There is no reason to keep punishing ourselves for mistakes that we've made because we have been redeemed from them. God knows that it is a process and a journey to move forward when we are struggling with regret, but He promised to help us through it. He promised to guide us and renew us. We have no reason to continue to live this way. God died on the cross, taking the punishment of our sin upon Him, so that we could be a new creation in Him. 

   Life brings us each through different circumstances, but we have all experienced different situations, made decisions, or said things that we wish we wouldn't have. Instead of focusing on how shameful, hurt, or regretful we are about what happened, we need to turn our eyes to Jesus. We are perfect in His eyes. He wants us to know that we are forgiven. We are beautiful. We are pure. We are perfectly and wonderfully made in His image. We are cherished and cared for. We are a new creation, blameless and full of no shame.

   

   God invites us to embrace His invitation right now. Stop looking around us for our identity and worth, but rather turn to Jesus. He will renew our spirits and restore our souls. He will give us strength and courage. He will give us hope in lost circumstances. He will bring us peace in the middle of a storm. When you are too tired to stand, kneel instead. Kneel before God; He will show you what to stand for and remind you that you are never standing alone. When we completely surrender our lives to Him, our past, present and future, He will restore and guide us forward as a new creation. We can live fully in every moment, reassured that God has renewed our lives and given us a purpose for each day.