Change is hard, and becoming a “new you” isn’t easy. But amazingly, we can be recreated into a better version of ourselves with one small step…
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I love change and reinvention. When I left for college, I was thrilled with the chance to reinvent myself, to be whoever I wanted to be rather than the person I always was.
There wasn’t anything wrong with the person I was, but I felt like adulthood meant settling more deeply into myself, my adult self. Not so the much the child that I had been.
Some of those changes stuck, some didn’t. But I explored. I think all young adults do this, intrinsically knowing that they need to shed some of the old to become new.
As adults, we continue this transformation in other ways. New Year’s resolutions, workout regimens, moving to different cities, and applying for jobs outside our comfort zones.
We stretch and we reach. We sometimes contort painfully. All in an attempt to feed that soul-deep need to refresh and renew ourselves.
But I think that this desire can’t be assuaged by changing locations or learning a new skill. It can’t be completely fulfilled by changing our identities and what we call ourselves.
We’re seeking something more. We’re trying to become new.
Saying goodbye to the old, embracing the new
Being a Christian isn’t just about doing or saying the right things. It’s about shedding, incrementally or all at once, the old skin we wore.
A snake might seem out of place here, all things considered, but they are a good example. When their old skin becomes worn or they outgrow it, sometimes after reproducing, they shed it for the new skin that fits them better now.
Don’t we need to do the same?
Mothers know this feeling after their first child is born, restructuring their lives, their bodies, and their roles. Teenagers feel this as they edge closer to adulthood. And we feel this when we open our hearts to God.
When our faith grows, we each become a different person. One open to the plans God has for us. Open to who He has made us to be.
Unlike goals and relationships and locales, this change is deep within us. We become new people in Christ. We no longer fit as well into our lives before Him because He has made us bigger than we were alone.
To use one more metaphor, we are like caterpillars who leave our old selves behind and exit the chrysalis in our most lovely form. One we were created for.
So embrace your new self. When you open yourself up and accept God in your life, that life will lead you in new directions. To unseen places, helping as-yet-unknown people, and reaching goals you never thought to make.
Shed the old, and embrace this beautiful new you in Christ.
Have a blessed Monday!
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