You are a New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

When we accept Christ, he cleanses us so we can be a new person.  He forgives all our sins.  However, it may seem like nothing has changed.  We still have the same life here on earth.  Worse, you start realizing what you need to change to align with Jesus and know you missed the target entirely a lot.  We need to let the Holy Spirit help us with the renewing of our minds.  This part is a process and is not instantaneous.  I like equating this to an onion.  We have this shiny, new creation inside, but we have to throw off all the layers of beliefs the world built up on us.  With study of the Word and paying attention to God’s leading through the Spirit, we figure out how to dig through the layers, peeling them off one by one.  This is the growing process that our faith should help lead us through.

Titus 3:4-6 NKJV – But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We are now children of God and heirs to all that he has, brothers and sisters in Christ.  Just like all children, we need to be trained to be a proper member of the family.  We will crawl before we walk, and walk before we run full tilt for God.  Don’t be afraid of this process.  Just like a child learning to crawl and then walk, each finds their own way there with the help of their family.  None of us are the same and our paths through growing with Christ will all be different.  This is how our testimonies are made to share with the world about how God helped us become what we are today.

Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJV - …put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

This last verse sums things up.  We have had all these worldly thoughts and training that put us on a trajectory away from God.  God will not expect you to figure it all out as soon as you accept Christ.  That would blow your mind.  For me, it was good enough when he proved he had a power that blew away any other power I had felt before.  There is plenty of spiritual power out there and I had definitely messed with the wrong side.  That realization ignited my faith further and over the past nearly fourteen years, I have been peeling my onion layers off as I grow up as a child of God.  There will be a lot of tears, a lot of hard work, a lot of not wanting to let go of things contrary to him, but in the end it will be worth it.

Let God lead you on the right path for growing up as his child.  You have been cleansed by accepting Christ, so all your sins have been forgiven.  Don’t give up and someday you will realize you are running as a child of God and have gone beyond those struggles to crawl and walk.