Have you ever set a New Year’s resolution? Have you set a goal to be a better version of yourself? Maybe you’ve decided to quit smoking, give up cheeseburgers or even read your Bible everyday. The truth is we all desire to do better, to be better. So how well have your resolutions gone in the past? How long did your resolve to be a better self last?
When we resolve to fix ourselves we expose another reality: We fall short. The scriptures tell us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. We lack the ability to make ourselves new. We cannot simply will ourselves to be new, to be recreated. It is God who did the creating in the first place and we must look to Him for our new selves.
Paul tells the church in Colossae about their new selves. He says “since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator”. It is in Christ that we have put on the new self our soul longs for. We have been made new! We no longer walk in the ways of our old self following the passions and desires of this world. No, we look forward to the next one.
Living as new selves in a broken world is part of the mission God gave us when we were called. God has sent us as His ambassadors of reconciliation. We live our lives humbly, gently and simply. We live lives that help to restore the lives of others. When a neighbor is going through difficult times, we are there to help. When someone falls into an addiction, we are there to show them the way out. When the devil comes in and has someone doubting God’s truth, we come along side them and share the Good News with them again. We’ve been made new and we share that exciting opportunity with others so they can experience the newness of God with us!
“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” — Colossians 3:17