This New Year let’s focus on this new you.
Most people reboot at the beginning of a New Year and set goals for themselves. But let me be clear; when I said let’s focus on this new you, I wasn’t talking about all of the health, financial, or practical goals to self-improve yourself, I’m actually referring to your new identity. This is the new you.
Check out what Paul says about our identity: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Paul understood his new identity he had been given. He had to. I think we must also.
Our culture repeatedly tells us that we need more to feel better. Whether it’s a bigger house, a faster car, or firmer abs, we are constantly being bombarded by this idea of wanting and needing more to have a better life. Our identity can suddenly be found in what job we hold, what people group we belong to, or whatever we hold great value to. The challenge with this as believers is that God says we’ve been given a new identity, and it’s not of the things of this world.
This new identity we’ve been given is in Christ. We are God’s masterpieces (Eph 2:10), we are children of God (John 1:12), we are His ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20), we are new creations (2 Cor 5:17), and we are sealed (Eph 1:13).
If we are going to truly “love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves,” we need to consider other’s needs above our own. The only way this is even remotely possible is to understand what God’s done for us through Christ.
May your 2016 plans prosper as you accomplish things at great levels, but do not neglect understanding the real new you.
Remember, the truest thing about you is what God says is true, and God says there’s a new you.
Happy New Year –
Matt
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